Lebanese report: Hamas maintains demands for permanent ceasefire, full IDF withdrawal from Gaza

Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news website, publishes what it claims are the details of Hamas’s response to the latest truce-hostage deal outline, which is being evaluated by Israeli officials.

Hamas’s latest amendments “do not affect the essential issues” of the deal, Al Mayadeen claims, quoting a source familiar with the proposal.

The terror group is said to insist on its demands for a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi corridor along the Egypt border and the Rafah crossing, and the return of displaced people to their homes.

Furthermore, Hamas refuses to grant Israel the option to veto the Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences who would be released in exchange for hostages, Al Mayadeen says.

The terror group, however, “shows flexibility in dealing with clauses 8 and 14 of the proposal, so as to ensure the continuation of negotiations until a permanent ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip,” the outlet adds.

Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal concerns the negotiations between Israel and Hamas that would be held during the six-week first phase of the ceasefire deal. Clause 14 deals with the transition between stage one and stage two of the deal.

The reported proposal differs from the one published earlier by Al Akhbar, another Lebanese news site affiliated with Hezbollah.