Mossad chief said to tell hostage families Hamas hasn’t rejected Egyptian proposal for 12-day deal; will respond early next week

Mossad chief David Barnea tells the families of hostages in Gaza during a meeting earlier today that reports that Hamas rejected a recent Egyptian proposal for a 12-day ceasefire are incorrect and that the terror group is expected to submit its formal response to the offer at the beginning of next week, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The Egyptian proposal would begin with an initial 48-hour ceasefire during which Hamas would prepare for the release of four Israeli hostages over the next 10 days, officials involved tell The Times of Israel.

The four hostages would fall under the so-called humanitarian category, meaning they would be either women, the elderly, or the sick.

In exchange, Israel would release roughly 100 Palestinian security prisoners, the officials said.

During the 12-day deal, Israel and Hamas would hold talks about a more long-lasting ceasefire.

A source present at the meeting with the hostage families tells Kan that Barnea understands that Israel has failed for over a year in trying to bring back their loved ones and that talks need to be done differently in order to reach a deal.