Senior Hamas official says low chance latest Israeli truce proposal will be accepted

A senior Hamas official tells the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese al-Mayadeen news station that the terror group sees a low chance of accepting a recent Israeli offer for a hostage release deal without “fundamental amendments.”

“The Israeli proposal that was presented does not reflect a fundamental change in the Israeli position. It does not give clear answers to the issue of the withdrawal [from Gaza] and a full ceasefire,” the official says, without providing details on the proposal.

It is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive. Hamas has also been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.