TEL AVIV, May 29. /TASS/. A new proposal by US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff on settling the situation in the Gaza Strip provides for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave for 60 days and the release of 10 hostages in two stages during the first week, the Ynet portal said, citing sources.
According to the news outlet, during the first week of the ceasefire, the Palestine-based Hamas movement must also hand over to Israel the remains of 18 deceased hostages. In response, the Israeli side must release Palestinian prisoners in accordance with previously approved lists. Additionally, the document provides for the resumed deliveries of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via the UN and other international organizations, Ynet noted.
The plan envisions that during the 60-day ceasefire, talks will be held on concluding combat in the embattled enclave. After the parties to the conflict reach an agreement on this issue, the remaining hostages will be released, the news portal noted. If no agreement is reached within the 60-day period, Israel would have the option to resume military operations in Gaza. Additionally, Ynet pointed out that the ceasefire and peace talks may be extended in exchange for the release of additional hostages.
According to the portal’s information, Israel received the new proposal from Witkoff overnight on May 29 and has not yet provided any official response. According to the Israeli side, Hamas continues to hold 58 hostages in the Gaza Strip, 20 of whom are alive.
On May 28, Witkoff told journalists in the White House that the US is planning to send "a new term sheet" on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to Israel and Hamas.
On May 25, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel on the settlement of the conflict in the Gaza Strip had hit an impasse. He specified that at consultations in Doha, it turned out that Israel intends to make a deal only for the release of hostages held in the Palestinian enclave, while Hamas insists on the full termination of hostilities.
Tensions erupted again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border settlements and seizing hostages. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel initiated a military operation in the enclave in order to dismantle Hamas’ military and political structure and rescue all those kidnapped, and began delivering air strikes on certain parts of Lebanon and Syria.
On March 18, the Israeli army resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and thus breaking the ceasefire established in January. Israeli 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 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.