A Palestinian official said Friday that Hamas has given a positive response to the U.S.-brokered proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Hamas handed its response to the U.S.-brokered Gaza cease-fire proposal to mediators, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters on Friday, adding that it is "positive and should help reach a deal."
The Palestinian resistance group said in a statement early Friday that it was "conducting consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the proposal received... from the mediators."
A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the latest proposals included "a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip," thought to number 22, "in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees."
In almost two years, Israel's genocidal war on Gaza killed at least 57,000 people, mostly women and children. More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. Israel's attacks and inhumane blockade have also sparked a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger.
Various human rights organizations and the U.N. have slammed Israel for its genocidal policies in Palestine. On Thursday, U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese said Israel is carrying out “one of the cruelest genocides in modern history,” accusing it of using Gaza as a testing ground for weapons and urging a global arms embargo and suspension of trade and investment ties.
