WASHINGTON — Hamas is reportedly calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in discussions on a permanent cease-fire after an initial release of hostages is completed as part of a US-backed peace proposal handed over to the terror group.
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff received the terror group’s response Saturday that includes a demand the US make it more difficult for the Jewish State to resume fighting if a permanent ceasefire is not reached within the 60-day truce, a source told The Times of Israel, indicating that more changes could delay the talks.
The counter offer is aimed at preventing Netanyahu from abandoning a long-term cease-fire.
The latest proposal had also suggested a longer timeline for hostage and prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hamas.
A rep for Witkoff declined to comment.
The most recent cease-fire proposal pitched Thursday by Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, calls for a 60-day truce as well as the release of the 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 deceased captives.
It marked the second attempt by Witkoff to halt the fighting in Gaza.
The deal would also prompt the release of 125 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences in Israel and 1,111 more from Gaza who have been detained since the war broke out Oct. 7, 2023, following Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis.
Another 180 bodies of dead Palestinians in Israel would also be returned under the terms of the proposal.
Witkoff’s spokesman said Saturday morning there were no developments on the cease-fire.
Hamas official Bassem Naiem said Thursday that the terror group felt “screwed over” by the latest peace offering, a source told the Jerusalem Post.
Left unresolved in peace talks is whether the Israel Defense Forces will resume their ground assault in the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of the cease-fire period.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said previously that the IDF will “take over all areas” of Gaza, but admitted that avoiding “a situation of famine” for Palestinian civilians was essential.
“People simply won’t support us,” he said in a video posted on his Telegram page May 22. “We won’t be able to complete the mission of victory.”
Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah had been brokering the talks between Hamas and Israel in Doha, Qatar, on behalf of the Trump administration, CNN reported.
A previous cease-fire proposal before President Trump took office resulted in a 42-day truce beginning Jan. 19.
That led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages — eight of whom were deceased — and nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees being sent back to Gaza.
