TEL AVIV: After rejecting the Israeli proposal of a ceasefire amid the continuing hostilities in Gaza, Hamas presented a ceasefire and hostage release deal to mediators, demanding that Israel observe a six-week ceasefire before it receives any of the 129 hostages held by the terror group since October 7, The Times of Israel reported citing a report by Hebrew daily, Haaretz.
The terror group’s proposal was reportedly submitted after it rejected the US-mediated deal on Saturday late at night.
In the proposal, Hamas put a condition on the Israel Defence Force (IDF) that it would be required to cease all fighting in Gaza and retreat from urban areas for six weeks, allowing displaced Palestinians to return north, The Times of Israel reported.
It added that only after the end of the six weeks would any hostages be released, stating further that it would use the weeks of paused hostilities to locate the hostages and ascertain what condition they are in.
The terror group’s draft added that 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for every Israeli civilian, a steep increase from the 3:1 ratio of the weeklong November truce. It also demanded that 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them serving life sentences, be released for every captive soldier.
The Times of Israel reported that Israel has previously dismissed similar demands as ‘delusional’ and the number of Palestinian prisoners Hamas has demanded, as well as the severity of their crimes, has been a sticking point in several previous rounds of negotiations.
Earlier, on Saturday, Hamas submitted its response to Israel’s hostage deal negotiations and ceasefire and rejected the latter’s proposal, sticking to its original demands, Xinhua reported.
The terror group said it was sticking to its original demands for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entirety of Gaza, the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and other areas, a surge in humanitarian aid and the start of the Strip’s reconstruction.