Israel agrees to latest U.S. proposal for cease-fire with Hamas
Saar, while speaking at a press briefing on a state visit to Estonia, responded to remarks President Donald Trump made on his Truth Social platform earlier in the day, revealing that Israel had agreed to a new cease-fire plan put forth by Steve Witkoff, the president's Middle East envoy, NBC News reported.
"We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a cease-fire," Saar said. "We said yes to Special Envoy Witkoff's proposals." Few details of the agreement have been published, but Trump said that Israel had agreed to "necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War."
Hamas and Israel had reached and signed an agreement in January that outlined three phases for a path to a permanent ceasefire. The first phase, which ended at the beginning of March, saw Israel and Hamas release swaths of captives, the permitting of some humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of some Israeli forces from Gaza.
Before the second phase could begin, Israel proposed an extension and modification of the agreement to seek the release of captives held by Hamas before committing to the second phase and expressing security concerns about a full withdrawal of troops, while also hoping to reshape the future governance of Gaza.
Hamas rejected Israel's modifications to the deal and the cease-fire collapsed on March 18 when Israel broke the truce and launched a surprise massive airstrike and artillery campaign. Since then, talks toward a new cease-fire agreement have been unsuccessful as Trump seeks an end to the hostilities.
"We are dealing with high responsibility and conducting national consultations to discuss what we received from the proposals of the mediators in order to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving withdrawal and providing urgent relief to our people in the Gaza Strip," Hamas said in a statement Wednesday.
But an official from an Arab country mediating the cease-fire told the Times of Israel on Wednesday that there are still "major hurdles" to overcome before a ceasefire can be reached. And a Palestinian official familiar with Hamas' negotiations told the BBC that the latest proposal made no significant changes to a proposal Hamas rejected in June.
The news came after the Gaza Health Ministry announced in a daily update Wednesday that 6,454 Palestinians had been killed and another 22,551 have been injured since the cease-fire plan fell apart in March. In total, some 57,012 people have been killed and another 134,592 have been injured throughout the war.
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