PM said to principally back Witkoff outline; Hamas may okay it — with reservations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostages’ families that he principally approves of US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s latest proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, media outlets reported Thursday, while two sources told The Times of Israel that Hamas is leaning toward accepting the deal, with some reservations.

Accordingly, the deal is not yet final, and negotiations are likely to drag out for at least several more days, the sources said.

According to a copy of Witkoff’s latest proposal, the authenticity of which was confirmed to The Times of Israel by two sources familiar with the negotiations, Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages during a 60-day ceasefire.

In return, Israel would release 125 Palestinian terror convicts serving life sentences, 1,111 Gazans detained since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, and 180 bodies of Palestinians currently held by Israel.

The IDF would also pull back from some areas where troops are currently deployed; the parameters of the pullback would be finalized “during proximity negotiations.”

Netanyahu told hostages’ families during a meeting on Thursday that he was prepared to move forward with the proposal, the Axios news site reported, while Channel 12 reported that he told the families he “principally accepts” the document. However, the TV report also quoted him saying he was “not ready to end the war without eliminating Hamas.”

Meanwhile, right-wing ministers and some hawkish hostage families came out in opposition to the proposed deal, arguing that Hamas was weakened and that now was the time to pile pressure on the terrorist organization to surrender. A decision to accept the proposal would have to be approved by the Israeli cabinet.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on the proposal before it was sent to Hamas, appearing to refer to the meeting Witkoff held on Tuesday with visiting Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, in which the two went over the latest US offer.

“I can also confirm that those discussions are continuing, and we hope that a ceasefire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home,” Leavitt said at a briefing.

Asked if Hamas had accepted the proposal, she responded, “Not to my knowledge.”

Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement that Witkoff’s proposal “does not respond to any of our people’s demands.” However, he said Hamas leaders were still studying the document.

The proposal effectively means “perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine — even during the temporary truce period,” Naim said.

An Arab diplomat and a second source familiar with the negotiations said Hamas would likely accept the offer in principle but would submit a series of reservations. Hamas is disappointed with the proposal and feels that Witkoff made crucial changes after conferring with Dermer in Washington, the second source told The Times of Israel. Still, it doesn’t want to outright reject the US proposal, fearing it would then be blamed for a lack of agreement.

Hamas wants a clause added to the proposal requiring Israeli forces to withdraw to the lines they held at the end of the previous ceasefire in March, along with a clause stipulating that aid will be distributed according to international humanitarian standards, the two sources said.

This appears to be an attempt to undercut Israel’s reliance on the new operations of the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which international organizations have argued fails to adequately address the humanitarian crisis.

Most critically, Hamas wants the clause in Witkoff’s proposal regarding talks on a permanent ceasefire — which the deal envisions taking place during an initial 60-day truce — edited to more clearly prevent Israel from restarting the war, the Arab diplomat and second source said.

Hamas is seeking a proposal that ensures this, given that in the previous deal signed in January, Israel refused to hold substantive negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire, and resumed fighting in Gaza after the temporary truce expired.

Clause 10 of the Witkoff proposal accord, as confirmed to The Times of Israel, states: “The negotiation on the necessary arrangements for a permanent ceasefire should be completed within 60 days. Upon agreement, the remaining hostages (living and deceased) from the “list of 58” provided by Israel will be released.”

The same clause goes on to say, however: “In case negotiations on arrangement for a permanent ceasefire are not concluded within the aforementioned time period, the temporary ceasefire may be extended under conditions and for a duration to be agreed upon by the parties so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith.”

Clause 11 elaborates on the point, as regards ongoing guarantees: “The mediators-guarantors (US, Egypt, Qatar) will guarantee that the ceasefire will continue for the 60-day period and for any agreed upon extension, will guarantee that serious discussions will be held on the necessary agreements for a permanent ceasefire and will make every effort to ensure the completion of the above-mentioned negotiations.”

The final clause of the document further specifies that “the United States and President Trump are committed to working to ensure that good faith negotiations continue until a final agreement is reached.”

The language regarding the potential transition between the temporary truce and the permanent ceasefire appears much more in Netanyahu’s favor in the latest Witkoff proposal than it was in the deal crafted during former US president Joe Biden’s administration.

The Biden-era deal stated that the temporary truce would remain in place as long as the negotiations on a permanent ceasefire were ongoing, and the mediators committed to keeping the sides at the negotiation table until a deal is reached. The Witkoff proposal turns the 60th day of the temporary truce into somewhat of a deadline for the permanent ceasefire talks, only allowing for an extension if the parties both agree to one and are still negotiating in good faith.

Despite the stricter language in the January deal, Israel still chose not to hold substantive negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and was able to resume fighting in March without pushback from the main mediator — the United States.

Witkoff’s proposal says humanitarian aid will be allowed into Gaza during the ceasefire through the UN, but doesn’t explicitly rule out the continued operation of the GHF. It also says that the sides will hold negotiations to produce an agreed-upon map for the IDF’s withdrawal during the temporary truce. Those talks need to be held before the agreement can be finalized, adding another reason for why a deal is unlikely to be imminent.

Hostages held by terror groups in Gaza include 57 of the 251 abducted on October 7, 2023, and the body of a soldier held by Hamas since 2014.

They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.