Hamas announced on Monday that it had accepted a proposed hostage release deal involving a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, signaling possible progress in long-stalled truce negotiations. The proposal, according to Saudi outlet Al Arabiya, represents a middle ground between a permanent ceasefire and a temporary truce. It includes the phased release of remaining hostages held by Hamas and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The move comes as fears of an imminent Israeli ground offensive in eastern Gaza City prompted thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes, while Egyptian and Qatari mediators intensified what one source described as a “last-ditch attempt” to halt the war.
Israel, however, has maintained that it will only agree to end hostilities if Hamas releases all hostages and disarms — conditions that Hamas continues to reject unless a Palestinian state is recognized. Meanwhile, mounting domestic pressure in Israel has intensified calls for a ceasefire, with tens of thousands of citizens staging some of the largest protests since the war began, demanding a deal to free the estimated 50 hostages still in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has labeled Gaza City Hamas’s last stronghold, though military officials have warned that an expanded offensive risks the lives of hostages and could entangle Israeli forces in drawn-out urban warfare.
Israel currently controls roughly 75 percent of Gaza. Ahead of the planned escalation, the military announced preparations to relocate residents from combat zones to the south, including the distribution of tents and supplies. Hamas swiftly condemned the move, describing it as another act of forced displacement and “a new wave of genocide.” The deadlock follows a failed round of indirect talks in July, where both sides accused each other of undermining negotiations.
Underscoring the divide, US President Donald Trump weighed in on Monday via Truth Social, stating that the remaining hostages would only be freed if Hamas was “confronted and destroyed,” dismissing the notion of a truce without Hamas’s elimination.
The war, now nearing its two-year mark, began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a deadly cross-border attack into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Since then, over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air and ground assault, Gaza health officials report, with the toll including both militants and civilians. The humanitarian crisis has worsened sharply, with the enclave’s health ministry confirming that 263 people — including 112 children — have died of malnutrition and starvation since the war began, five of them in the past 24 hours alone.
