Netanyahu: Hamas proposal 'unacceptable'

The Israeli Prime Minister on Sunday described as “unacceptable” Hamas’ counterproposal to the latest US ceasefire proposal, with the radical Palestinian group willing to release 10 hostages alive and 18 dead.

In a statement, Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that, as the US President's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, had said, "Hamas' response is unacceptable and makes the situation worse."

In the text, Netanyahu accuses Hamas of remaining “firm in its refusal” , since the Islamist group announced that, in order to reach an agreement, there must be guarantees that Israeli troops will leave the Gaza Strip, as well as negotiations for a “permanent ceasefire”.

“Israel will continue its actions for the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” the prime minister declared.

In a statement issued on Sunday and reported by the Israeli press, Witkoff called Hamas' response "totally unacceptable" and said what they were doing was "regressing" .

Hamas ready to release 10 hostages in counter-offer to US, demanding a “permanent ceasefire”

The radical Palestinian group Hamas has announced that it is ready to release 10 hostages alive and 18 dead in response to the United States, which is calling for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

The counterproposal to the mediators “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families,” Hamas said in a statement.

According to sources with access to the pact, cited by the Israeli press, the new document does not contain any written demand for Israel to definitively end the offensive or withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip.

It includes the release of 10 live hostages and 18 dead hostages in two batches, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire.

Furthermore, it stipulates, in vague language, the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, according to the EFE news agency.

The United States revealed on Thursday that Israel had accepted US President Donald Trump's proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as negotiations with Hamas continued.

The ongoing conflict was triggered by attacks led by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, which left around 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and more than two hundred hostages.

In retaliation, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused more than 54,000 deaths, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, the destruction of almost all of the territory's infrastructure and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.