Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel have stalled since the latter broke the ceasefire on March 18 within two months since it was reached by the mediators.
Hamas is engaging with the proposal from mediators Qatar and Egypt “with a high sense of responsibility,” amid increasing efforts to reach an agreement with Israel that would secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of captives.
“We are engaging with a high sense of responsibility and conducting national consultations to discuss the proposals received from the brotherly mediators with the aim of reaching an agreement that ensures an end to the aggression,” Hamas said on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.
The statement came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel had agreed to “the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire, despite its continuous bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas noted, in its latest statement, that the mediators “are making intensive efforts to bridge the gap between the parties” and to resume the stalled negotiations.
Kamal Abu Aoun, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, also confirmed that the movement’s leadership “is continuing its intensive and around-the-clock efforts” to secure a deal.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel have stalled since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, two months after it was agreed upon by the mediators.
Israel has long claimed that Hamas did not commit to the deal, despite the movement abiding by the terms of the ceasefire’s first phase by releasing 33 Israeli captives.
Hamas also released five Thai captives and later handed over Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander on May 12, aiming to advance a ceasefire agreement.
Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire by preventing the entry of aid into the besieged enclave, carrying out multiple attacks after the deal came into effect, and delaying the release of Palestinian detainees.
Some of the key sticking points in the negotiations have been Israel’s refusal to completely halt its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and withdrawing its forces from the territory. Israel and its top ally, the U.S., have insisted on imposing a foreign administration in the Gaza Strip to replace Hamas’s leadership.
Hamas official, Abu Aoun, stressed that the “Palestinian people in Gaza have played a pivotal role in thwarting Zionist attempts to impose a suspicious administration that does not represent their interests and values”.
Israel has persisted in its intensified bombardment of the Gaza Strip despite the ongoing efforts by the mediators to reach a deal, reducing the coastal enclave to rubble. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, although the figure is an estimate given that thousands are still trapped under the rubble.
Israel’s complete blockade on the Gaza Strip since March 2 has led to an alarming rise in starvation that threatens the lives of the 2.1 million population. Aid distribution sites have become among Israel’s primary targets throughout the genocide, becoming widely labelled as “death traps”.
