Hamas says it gave answer to Witkoff’s Gaza truce proposal, keeps mum on stance

By Jacob Magid

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31 May 2025, 6:11 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

This picture taken from the grounds of the Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Maamadani Hospital, shows a cloud of smoke erupting following Israeli bombardment on a building in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City on May 31, 2025. (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)

Hamas announces that it has submitted its response to US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s hostage deal proposal.

The statement from the terror group doesn’t specify whether the group has accepted or rejected the proposal.

Sources told The Times of Israel that Hamas planned to accept the offer, while submitting reservations, aimed primarily at preventing Israel from resuming the war after the temporary truce proposed by Witkoff.

The Hamas statement says its response to the Witkoff proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip — two demands the Israeli government has largely rejected at this stage.

Hamas confirms that the proposal being discussed would see the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 slain hostages in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.