Edited by Deepali Verma
The proposal by Hamas underscores a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza for four-and-a-half months leading to an end to the war, in response to a proposal sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel.
As per a draft document seen by Reuters, the Hamas counter proposal outlines three phases lasting 45 days each.
The proposal would see militants exchange remaining Israeli hostages they captured on Oct. 7 for Palestinian prisoners. The Gaza reconstruction would start, Israeli forces would be withdrawn completely, and bodies and remains would be exchanged.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached Israel after meeting the leaders of mediators Qatar and Egypt in the most serious diplomatic push of the war that is now aimed at reaching an extended truce. The details regarding Hamas’s counter offer have previously not been reported.
The Hamas counterproposal states that all Israeli women hostages, males under 19, the elderly and sick would be released over the course of the first 45-day phase in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails.
The rest of the male hostages would be released during the second phase, and still the remaining will be exchanged in the third phase. Towards the end of the third phase, Hamas would expect the sides to have reached agreement on an end to the war.
The group, governing Gaza, said in an addendum to the proposal that it wishes for the release of 1500 prisoners, a third of whom it wanted to select from a list of Palestinians handed life sentences by Israel.
The truce is expected to increase from the flow of food and other aid to Gaza’s desperate civilians who are facing hunger and dire shortages of basic supplies.
