Cnn
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Israel has accepted the new cease-fire proposal with the Hamas of the American envoy Steve Witkoff, according to an Israeli official.
The Israeli official told CNN that the proposal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages, as well as a 60 -day truce. The manager has provided no details on the start of the negotiations for a permanent end of the war, a key to Hamas demands that Israel has refused to accept.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that the last executive came from Israel and “does not respond to any of the requests of our inhabitants, including war and famine”, according to Bassem Naim, member of the political bureau of the militant group.
“Nevertheless, the leadership of the movement studies, with all national responsibility, an answer to the proposal, in the light of the genocide to which our people are subject,” he added on Facebook.
Hamas responded to Witkoff’s last proposal with three counterpoints, according to a senior Hamas official.
The official said that CNN Hamas would accept the release of hostages and a 60-day ceasefire, as indicated in the American proposal, but they want American negotiations to a permanent cease-fire will continue and the fighting will not resume after the 60 days.
Hamas wants humanitarian assistance to be carried out by the United Nations channels. And finally, they want the Israeli defense forces (FDI) to retreat to the posts they held on March 2 of this year, before Israel revived its operations
Another person familiar with the counterpoppea in Hamas confirmed the three points.
According to the Family and disappeared forum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families earlier in the day he had accepted Witkoff’s proposal.
During her briefing on Thursday, the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed that “the special envoy Witkoff and the president submitted a cease-fire proposal to Hamas that Israel supported and supported” and that discussions are underway.
“We hope that a cease-fire in Gaza will take place so that we can bring all the hostages back to the house and this has been a priority for this administration from the start,” added Leavitt.
The senior Hamas official told CNN that they had responded to Witkoff’s proposal via the Palestinian-American interlocutor Bishara Bahbah, who was in direct discussion with Hamas negotiators in Doha.
The Hamas official said that two days ago, they discussed Hamas’ terms with Bahbah, who were sent to Witkoff. Then the official said, after Witkoff met Israeli official Ron Dermer in Washington this week, “everything has changed 100%”.
“We were shocked because we were told 2-3 times from Bishara (Bahbah) that he had approved the executive and had no problem,” said the senior Hamas, calling Witkoff’s last proposal for “Israeli document”.
“We are ready to return all the hostages in one day, we just want a guarantee that war will not come back after that,” said the official. “Now, in this article, we have not found it,” said Hamas manager. “They want to continue the war, we want to stop this,” he added.
Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, wrote on Facebook that a proposal had been agreed with Witkoff last week and that the last executive comes from Israel and that “means perpetuating the occupation and continuing murder and famine”.
After this last proposal, Hamas is ready to publish half of the 20 remaining living hostages, which the first head of Hamas called a “great risk” because there is no guarantee that Israel will comply with the agreement.
“We know that Witkoff is a strong man, he can do something. He is the only one who can have an impact on Israel,” said the manager
The same official said that the Trump administration had denied the terms following the release of the Israeli-American Edan Alexander, including thanks to Hamas of President Trump and humanitarian aid that did not immediately start to go back to Gaza.
“Hamas is very, very interested in reaching an agreement to end the war and return the hostages,” said the official.
Earlier Thursday, the Minister of Finance of Israel, Bezalal Smotrich, said that acceptance of the proposal would be “pure madness”, writing on social networks that it “will not allow such a thing.
But the Israeli opposition chief Yair, Lapid, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the proposal “publicly and immediately”. He said he would support the government, even if his far -right members had abandoned him.