TUNIS, March 29. /TASS/. The Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas has agreed to the terms of a ceasefire proposal received two days ago from Egypt and Qatar, member of the Hamas Political Bureau Khalil al-Hayya said.
According to Al Jazeera, the official noted that "Hamas has dealt positively and accepted a proposal by Egypt and Qatar to stop the fighting in the territory."
"The group has accepted an Egyptian plan for forming an independent body of experts to oversee civil administration in Gaza," al-Hayya said, according to the news outlet.
He did not reveal any details of the initiative.
Earlier, Asharq, citing sources, reported that Qatar and Egypt had been holding consultations with Hamas and Israel in order to conclude a new ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip involving the release of five Israeli hostages and a 50-day truce.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on January 15 that thanks to the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement to implement a ceasefire in Gaza and release the hostages held in the enclave. During the first phase of the deal which concluded on March 1, thirty-three hostages, including those deceased, were returned to Israel, in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
On March 18, the Israeli army resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and thus breaking the ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had restarted military operations in Gaza after Hamas rejected the US proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. The office stated that the Israeli military had resumed strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza to secure the release of hostages and that the army would escalate its campaign in the enclave. The Gaza-based movement has blamed the United States for the renewal of Israeli aggression.