Report: Hamas agreed unresolved issues can be pushed off until later phase of ceasefire

A Hamas source tells the Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed that the terror group has agreed to put off several unresolved points of contention with Israel until a later phase of the proposed ceasefire-for-hostage deal, if the next stages are implemented without delay and as required.

The source says Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators backed Hamas’s latest message to Israel in the negotiations, and that Cairo showed flexibility about agreeing to have the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border take place at a later stage.

Additionally, the source says that since talks began, they are now “at the closest point [yet] to completing the agreement,” adding that Hamas and mediators are expecting a response from Israel to the Palestinian terrorist organization’s proposal in the coming hours. Israel has maintained it won’t agree to any ceasefire that prevents it from resuming fighting, as the three-phase deal would ultimately require.