Israel has rejected a new hostage deal proposed by the Palestinian armed group Hamas that would have established a long-term ceasefire, with the gradual withdrawal of West Jerusalem’s troops from Gaza, Axios reported on Monday, citing sources.
The proposal was made to Israel through Qatari and Egyptian mediators on Sunday, according to two Israeli officials and another source familiar with the matter.
Hamas reportedly offered to end the hostilities in three stages. Each one is said to include a pause in the fighting for more than a month in exchange for the release of hostages held by the group. In the first stage, Israel would have started withdrawing its forces from Gaza in exchange for the freeing of around 40 hostages. The deal would have also likely involved West Jerusalem releasing an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, according to the report.
Under the terms of the reported deal, both sides would have ended the war, which has raged since early October, once the third stage is implemented, while Hamas would release captured Israeli soldiers.