A senior Hamas official announced on Saturday that the group is willing to agree to a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza, including the release of all remaining hostages in a single exchange and a five-year cessation of hostilities.
“Hamas is ready for a one-time prisoner exchange and a five-year truce,” the official told AFP anonymously, ahead of scheduled talks with mediators in Cairo.
The statement comes after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal on April 17, which offered a 45-day ceasefire in return for 10 hostages. Hamas has maintained that any deal must result in a full end to the war, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a broad prisoner swap, and immediate delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid.
Israel, however, continues to demand the return of all hostages and the dismantling of Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza Strip — a condition the group refuses to accept.
The conflict began with a large-scale Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,218 people — mostly civilians — and saw 251 hostages taken, according to AFP’s count based on official sources. The Israeli military reports that 58 hostages remain in Gaza, including 34 confirmed dead.
A previous truce from January 19 to March 17 led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including eight deceased individuals, in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Since the end of that ceasefire on March 18, at least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed, raising the total death toll in Gaza to 51,439, according to the territory’s health ministry.
