Hamas has reportedly responded to Israel “in a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal, days after President Trump said that Israel has agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.
The details are currently being examined, according to reports.
Hamas said: “The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.”
“The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterised by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,” it added.
A Hamas official said the group seeks guarantees for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting truce.
What did Trump say about Hamas’s reaction?
The president has said that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas may be reached next week.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that he had not yet been briefed on the status of the negotiations.
Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group of more than 550 former senior Israeli security officials, have penned a letter to Trump urging him to use Monday’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
“It is our professional judgement that the [Israeli military] has long accomplished its dual mission of dismantling Hamas governance and essentially destroying its military capabilities,” wrote the group’s chair, Matan Vilnai.
Vilnai added that “Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel, and as demonstrated this year on multiple fronts, Israel possesses overwhelming power and ability to neutralise any threat that might arise from Gaza in the future”.
