CAIRO, July 4. /TASS/. Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh held consultations with representatives of Egypt and Qatar, who mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, as well as with Turkish emissaries to discuss the latest Gaza settlement initiatives, Hamas said on its Telegram channel.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Mossad intelligence service said they had received a response from Hamas regarding a hostage deal, and Israel’s response to it is now in the works.

On May 31, US President Joe Biden announced his three-phase Israel-Palestine ceasefire plan, with each phase lasting six weeks. The first stage envisages a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated localities in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons. Apart from that, the parties are supposed to begin talks during this stage, with the ceasefire staying in place until they reach an agreement. Phase two provides for the release of all surviving hostages, including the military. The third stage will see the beginning of the reconstruction of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.