Hamas says it’s studying Gaza cease-fire proposal, but appears to rule out key provisions

Hamas officials said Friday that they are studying a proposed cease-fire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners — but at the same time, the group appeared to rule out some of the key components.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the group remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent cease-fire. Hamdan said Hamas seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences. He mentioned two by name; one is Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader seen as a unifying figure.

Hamdan’s comments on the prisoners were the most detailed demands yet to be raised by the group in public.

The insistence on large-scale prisoner releases and an end to the fighting in Gaza puts the group at odds with the multi-stage proposal that officials from Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the U.S. put forth this week. That proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire.

“There is no way that this will be acceptable by the resistance,” Hamdan told Lebanon’s LBC TV on Friday, referring to proposed successive pauses in fighting.

Israeli leaders have said they will keep fighting until Hamas is crushed, even while agreeing to long pauses accompanied by the release of hostages.

Hamas and other militants captured about 250 hostages during the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and triggered the war. Hamas continues to hold most of those captives, after more than 100 were released during a one-week truce in November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Since Israel’s offensive began, more than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The conflict has leveled vast swaths of the enclave, displaced 85% of its population and pushed a quarter of residents to starvation.

In his remarks, Hamdan said Hamas wants to free Palestinian prisoners of all factions — not just thoseaffiliated with the militant group. In addition to Barghouti, he named Ahmed Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction.

The prisoner release is a “national cause, not only for Hamas,” he said.

Barghouti and Saadat were convicted of involvement in fatal attacks during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel’s occupation a generation ago.

Alluding to additional points of dispute, Hamdan said Israel is carving out a buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border. Israel has not acknowledged such plans, but satellite photos show demolition along a kilometer-wide path at the border.

As the war nears the four-month mark, fighting continues in the southern city of Khan Yunis. The Israeli military said Friday that its efforts focused on fighters, weapons and infrastructure in the city, a key target of the ground offensive in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of residents of Khan Yunis and surrounding areas have fled south to the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, which the United Nations said Friday is becoming a “pressure cooker of despair.”

“We fear for what comes next,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “It’s like every week we think, you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go figure. It gets worse.”

Hamdan’s remarks reaffirmed statements from other Hamas officials, including political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who said Tuesday that the group was studying the terms but remained committed to seeking the “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza and steps toward a long-term cease-fire.

Another Hamas official said Friday that the group would answer “very soon” and asked for several unspecified changes. He refused to give details on what is sought or numbers of hostages to be released in return for prisoners.

The proposal on the table was drafted by officials from Qatar and Egypt, which have been serving as mediators between Israel and Hamas, as well as the U.S. and Israel.

A senior Egyptian official familiar with the discussions described the proposal Friday, saying Hamas had sent positive signals about it. The Egyptian and Hamas officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the indirect talks are ongoing.

The proposal, according to the Egyptian official, includes an initial cease-fire of six to eight weeks, during which Hamas would release hostages who are elderly, women or children in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

During that phase, talks would continue on prolonging the cease-fire and releasing more prisoners and hostages. Israel would allow the number of aid trucks entering Gaza to increase to 300 daily — from a few dozen now — and let displaced residents gradually return to their homes in the north, according to the proposal.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Associated Press writer Jamey Keaton contributed from Geneva.