Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Hamas announced that it has provided a “positive” reply to a ceasefire proposal supported by the US in Gaza, which suggests its willingness to begin talks that might lead to the conclusion of a 21-month conflict with Israel.

Yet, numerous Arab media outlets reported that the group is seeking “minor and formative” changes to the proposal, casting doubt on whether its response would be agreeable to Israel, or the mediating countries: Qatar, Egypt, and the US.

“Hamas is fully ready and earnest about immediately commencing a new round of discussions on how to implement this framework,” the group stated late on Friday.

The group said it had delivered its positive response to the latest proposal — which starts with a 60-day ceasefire — by international mediators following its own internal consultations as well as with other Palestinian factions and forces.

There was no response from the Israeli government during the Jewish Sabbath. The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The family of at least one Israeli hostage demanded an immediate cabinet meeting in order to discuss the Hamas response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Washington on Monday, with US President Donald Trump having made clear his desire for a ceasefire. Trump posted earlier this week on his social media website, Truth Social, that Israel had accepted his proposal, later telling reporters he intended to be “firm” with Netanyahu.

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” the US president warned.

The Israeli military continued its assault on Gaza, killing more than 100 people on Thursday and Friday, according to local health officials.

According to drafts of the proposal seen by the Financial Times and confirmed by two people familiar with the negotiations, Trump would “guarantee” that the conflict would be halted for 60 days. During this period more than two dozen living and deceased Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be released over five phases.

Hamas holds at least 20 living hostages, as well as the bodies of 30 more, all taken captive during its cross-border raid that sparked the war on October 7 2023.

It has demanded assurances that negotiations held during any ceasefire must move towards a complete truce before it can agree to releasing all of the hostages.

Hamas killed some 1,200 people in Israel during the October 7 raid, according to Israeli officials. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 60,000 people, most of them women and children, according to local health officials, and devastated the enclave.

During the proposed two-month pause, the Israeli military — which controls about 65 per cent of the Gaza Strip — would agree to withdraw from sections of northern and southern Gaza, subject to additional “rapid negotiations”, and would also allow a pick-up in humanitarian aid into the enclave through the UN and other international groups.

As in past ceasefires, Israel would also commit to swapping large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, many held without trial in Israeli military prisons.

Additional reporting by Myles McCormick in Washington