On Friday, the White House said a proposal from Hamas militants on a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal is certainly within the bounds of what is possible and expressed cautious optimism.
Hamas has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the US that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the proposal was “certainly within the bounds in broad brush strokes … of the deal we’ve been working on now for several months.”
“We’re cautiously optimistic that things are moving in the right direction but that doesn’t mean that it’s done,” Kirby told reporters.
Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for fresh talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, keeping faint hopes for a truce alive despite rejecting a long-awaited counter-offer from Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also said he had approved a plan for an assault on Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million residents are sheltering, though it gave no timeframe for such an attack.
Negotiators failed this week to reach a ceasefire agreement for the Gaza war in time for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But Washington and Arab mediators are still determined to reach a deal to head off an Israeli assault on Rafah and let in humanitarian aid to stave off mass starvation.
