[Hamas issued a statement today](https://t.me/PalestineResist/77819] in response to the ceasefire proposal for Gaza put forward by President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff last week. “Following a round of national consultations, and stemming from our profound responsibility towards our people and their suffering, the Islamic Resistance Movement ‘Hamas’ today delivered its response to the latest proposal by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to the mediators,” the statement, as posted on the Resistance News Network Telegram channel said. “This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to guarantee the flow of aid to our people and families in the Strip.
“As part of this agreement, ten living ‘israeli’ captives held by the resistance will be released, in addition to the handover of eighteen bodies, in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.”
An unnamed source within Hamas subsequently told Al Araby TV that the Hamas proposal “calls for the release of four captives on the first day, two on the 30th day, and four on the 60th day. The bodies of the dead will be released in three batches: on the 10th, 30th, and 50th days.” The Hamas response also includes “demands to initiate negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement.”
The Hamas response has been dismissed both by Witkoff and the Israeli government. Witkoff called it “totally unacceptable and only takes us backward.”
“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he said. “That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have at the proximity talks substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire.”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of refusing to agree to a deal. “While Israel has agreed to the updated Witkoff framework for the release of our hostages, Hamas continues to cling to its refusal,” it said.
