Qatar: Proposal accepted by Hamas ‘includes clear path to permanent ceasefire’

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says the Arab mediators’ proposal accepted by Hamas yesterday “includes a clear path to a permanent ceasefire, and we consider it the best that can be offered under the present circumstances.”

Israel is framing the offer as a partial deal proposal, as it will only release roughly half of the remaining hostages during an initial 60-day truce. However, the deal envisions the second half being released if the sides can reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

After backing and even leading this approach for over a year, Netanyahu has shifted to opposing the phased framework over the past several weeks, instead demanding a comprehensive deal that sees all of the hostages released in one batch in exchange for an end to the war.

Hamas has long offered this trade, but Netanyahu is also attaching a series of conditions that the terror group is refusing, such as the disarmament of Hamas, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, overall Israeli security control of the enclave and the governance of the Strip by a body that is not Hamas or the PA.

Ansari confirms that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Thani joined the talks in Egypt on Monday in what led to Hamas’s positive response to the mediators’ proposal — one that Arab officials told The Times of Israel yesterday is nearly identical to the one submitted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff in May.

“The atmosphere surrounding the talks is positive,” Ansari says during a press conference.

“We hope to reach an agreement as soon as possible, and if an understanding is reached, it must be implemented immediately without delay,” he adds.