Hamas claims terror group submitted Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators - report - Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

This follows a tense meeting, when the mediators made it clear to Hamas leaders that “if you don’t return with a serious response, your problem will be with us - the mediators.”

 

Outline of Hamas terrorists standing against backdrop of Israeli demonstrators calling for an immediate hostage deal. (illustration)

(photo credit: Flash90/Tomer Neuberg, Reuters/Hatem Khaled)

 

Hamas claims that the terror group handed its response to the Israeli ceasefire proposal to mediators, Hamas's official news agency SAFA reported on Thursday morning.

This follows an Israeli official telling The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that Hamas has yet to deliver an official response to the Israeli proposal that was submitted a week ago and is now raising new demands on issues that had already been resolved.

The hostage-ceasefire deal mediators refused to relay Hamas’s response to Israel’s proposed deal on Tuesday, saying it was not a serious answer, two people familiar with the matter told the Post.

At a meeting with representatives from Qatar and Egypt in Doha on Tuesday, Hamas officials responded to the framework.

“This is not a serious response,” the mediators told them, according to the informed sources. “Go back and draft a new one.”

Footage released by the IDF says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this still image taken from an undated handout video, released April 2, 2025. (credit: VIA REUTERS)

Hamas has backtracked on several issues that were already agreed upon, including humanitarian matters, an Israeli official said.

According to Hamas’s response on Tuesday, it is demanding that all humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip exclusively through the auspices of the United Nations.

Hamas has also reneged on its position regarding key points related to the deployment of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip during the proposed 60-day ceasefire period, as well as on the number of Palestinian terrorists to be released in the deal, the Israeli official said.

During a tense meeting on Tuesday, the mediators told the Hamas leaders: “If you don’t return with a serious response, your problem will be with us – the mediators,” according to a person familiar with the matter.

Hamas's conduct in negotiations

The Trump administration has conveyed to both Qatar and Egypt that they must pressure Hamas to move closer to the Israeli position and advance a hostage deal in which 10 Israeli hostages will be released together with the bodies of 18 Israelis murdered by the terrorists.

Bishara Bahbah, US President Donald Trump’s Palestinian American mediator and envoy in Qatar, said Hamas’s stalling tactics were costing dozens of Palestinian lives every day.

“There is no convincing reason for the delay in responding, nor for demanding nonessential changes, especially considering this is a 60-day negotiation period with no casualties and no bloodshed, during which all details will be discussed,” he said.

“Enough with the stalling and continued bloodshed,” Bahbah said. “We must move forward toward a deal that enables all parties to negotiate under American guarantees in order to reach a permanent ceasefire.”

Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-862011

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