Israel, Gaza ceasefire: Hamas reportedly ‘expected to agree truce within hours’

Hamas is expected to respond positively to a proposed 60-day ceasefire with Israel within hours, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed optimism about announcing a deal “soon”.

Israeli media report that Hamas leaders are currently in Turkey, where they are reviewing the proposal delivered by Qatari negotiators.

According to the Saudi news outlet Asharq al-Awsat, Hamas is working out the final details of the agreement, which reportedly resembles the terms of a previous deal reached in January.

A Hamas source told the outlet: “All our inputs are positive, and we will be closer to a new agreement. All the movements indicate that we have entered the pre-announcement phase.”

When asked about the ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Israel had accepted, Mr Netanyahu told reporters, “As far as we’re concerned, there is an agreement, and we hope to announce it soon.”

Efforts for a Gaza truce have gathered steam after the US secured a ceasefire to end a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran, but on the ground in Gaza, intensified Israeli strikes continued unabated, killing at least 59 people on Thursday, according to health authorities in the territory.

Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war’s end, the source close to the group said. Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out.

Ending the war has been the main sticking point in repeated rounds of failed negotiations.

Egyptian security sources said Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to secure US and international guarantees that talks on ending the war would continue as a way of convincing Hamas to accept the two-month truce proposal.

A separate source familiar with the matter said that Israel was expecting Hamas’ response by Friday and that if it was positive, an Israeli delegation would join indirect talks to cement the deal.

The proposal includes the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of the bodies of 18 more in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, sources say. Of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to be still alive.

A senior Israeli official close to Mr Netanyahu said preparations were in place to approve a ceasefire deal even as the premier heads to Washington to meet Mr Trump on Monday.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who sits on Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told news website Ynet that there was “definitely readiness to advance a deal.”

In Gaza, however, there was little sign of relief. According to medics at Nasser hospital, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli fire en route to an aid distribution site.

Further north, at least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike at a school in Gaza City, according to medics. The Israeli military said it targeted a key Hamas gunman operating there and that it took precautions to reduce risk to civilians.

“Suddenly, we found the tent collapsing over us and a fire burning. We don’t know what happened,” one witness, Wafaa Al-Arqan, who was among the people sheltering there, told Reuters.

“What can we do? Is it fair that all these children burned?”

The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than two million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.

Israel says it won’t end the war while Hamas is still armed and ruling Gaza. Hamas, severely weakened, says it won’t lay down its weapons but is willing to release all the hostages still in Gaza if Israel ends the war.

- With Reuters