Israel accepts a US proposal for a temporary Gaza ceasefire and Hamas
gives a cool response
[May 30, 2025]
By SAMY MAGDY and JOSEPH KRAUSS
Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with
Hamas, the White House said Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed
optimism earlier this week about brokering an agreement to halt the
Israel-Hamas war and return more of the hostages captured in the attack
that ignited it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel
“backed and supported” the new proposal.
Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but
said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a
formal answer.
“The Zionist response, in essence, means perpetuating the occupation and
continuing the killing and famine,” Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official,
told The Associated Press. He said it “does not respond to any of our
people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.”
Nonetheless, he said the group would study the proposal “with all
national responsibility.”
Hamas had previously said it had agreed with Witkoff on a “general
framework” of an agreement that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, a
full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an influx of aid, and a transfer of
power from the militant group to a politically independent committee of
Palestinians.
Here's what's known about the emerging negotiations that aim to bring
about an extended truce in the war in exchange for hostages that remain
in captivity:
What do Israel and Hamas want?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war
until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or
disarmed and sent into exile. He has said Israel will control Gaza
indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary
emigration of much of its population.
Palestinians and most of the international community have rejected plans
to resettle Gaza’s population, a move experts say would likely violate
international law.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages — its only
bargaining chip — in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting
ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. It has offered to give up power
to a committee of politically independent Palestinians that could
oversee reconstruction.
Hamas is still holding 58 hostages. Around a third are believed to be
alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes
on. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed since Israel renewed its
airstrikes and ground operations after ending a ceasefire in March.
The dispute over whether there should be a temporary ceasefire to
release more hostages — as Israel has called for — or a permanent one —
as Hamas wants — has bedeviled talks brokered by the U.S., Egypt and
Qatar for more than a year and a half, and there's no indication it has
been resolved.
What is the latest ceasefire proposal?
Witkoff has not publicized his latest proposal, but a Hamas official and
an Egyptian official independently confirmed some of the details. They
spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
They say it calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious
negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel
will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in
March. Israeli forces would pull back to the positions they held during
the ceasefire Israel ended that month.
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President Donald Trump, right, listens as White House special envoy
Steve Witkoff, left, speaks during a swearing in ceremony for
interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine
Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White
House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during
the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians
imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after
being convicted of deadly attacks.
Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid
would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly
three-month Israeli blockade — slightly eased in recent days — has
pushed the population to the brink of famine.
Why is it so hard to end the war?
Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing
some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages.
More than half the hostages have been released in ceasefires or
other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of
bodies.
Israel's ensuing military campaign has killed over 54,000
Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza
Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were
civilians or combatants.
The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around
90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians, with
hundreds of thousands living in squalid tent camps and unused
schools.
Hamas has been vastly depleted militarily and lost nearly all of its
top leaders in Gaza. It most likely fears that releasing all the
hostages without securing a permanent ceasefire would allow Israel
to launch an even more devastating campaign to ultimately destroy
the group.
Israel fears that a lasting ceasefire and withdrawal now would leave
Hamas with significant influence in Gaza, even if it surrenders
formal power. With time, Hamas might be able to rebuild its military
might and eventually launch more Oct. 7-style attacks.
Netanyahu also faces political constraints: His far-right coalition
partners have threatened to bring down his government if he ends the
war too soon. That would leave him more vulnerable to prosecution on
longstanding corruption charges and to investigations into the
failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attack.
A broader resolution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict
appears more distant than ever.
The Palestinians are weak and divided, and Israel's current
government — the most nationalist and religious in its history — is
opposed to Palestinian demands for a state in Gaza, the West Bank
and east Jerusalem, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast
war.
The last serious peace talks broke down more than 15 years ago.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo and
Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed reporting.
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