US says Hamas rejected Egyptian proposal for brief Gaza ceasefire

Hamas has rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal, the State Department says.

The revelation is made in a US readout issued on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Sunday call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

Blinken “noted that Hamas has once again refused to release even a limited number of hostages to secure a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza,” the US readout says.

Egypt had put forth a proposal that would have begun with an initial 48-hour ceasefire during which Hamas would have prepared for the release of four Israeli hostages over the next 10 days, two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel.

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

In exchange, Israel was to release roughly 100 Palestinian security prisoners, the diplomats said.

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

Hamas has refused to budge from the proposal it submitted in early July, which saw it cede on its key demand for an up-front Israeli commitment for a permanent end to the war.

That offer still contained a number of new conditions and was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who added his own new requirements for a deal, including that Israel be able to maintain its force presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors.

The US blamed Hamas for the over two month impasse that ensued, saying the terror group refused to engage in talks.

Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt have been less convinced by this argument, privately maintaining that the US has downplayed Netanyahu’s culpability for the impasse and claiming that a deal would have been possible over the summer had the premier not added new conditions, Arab diplomats have told The Times of Israel.