Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal put forth by the United States for Gaza, according to Al Jazeera’s sources, but an American official rejected the claim and said the deal being discussed was “unacceptable” and “disappointing”.
Israeli officials also denied that the proposal was from the US, saying on Monday that no Israeli government could accept it, according to the Reuters news agency.
The conflicting reports came as Israeli forces kept up their relentless bombardment of starving Palestinians in Gaza, and continued to severely restrict the entry of aid into the besieged enclave.
Medical sources say at least 81 people, including many children, were killed in Israel’s attacks on Monday alone.
Al Jazeera’s sources said Hamas and the US’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, agreed to the draft deal at a meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha. They said it includes a 60-day ceasefire, and the release of 10 living captives held in Gaza, over two stages.
US President Donald Trump would guarantee the terms of the deal and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The agreement would also allow for the entry of humanitarian aid, without conditions, from day one, the sources said.
Witkoff, however, rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a captive and truce deal, telling Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable”.
A US source close to Witkoff also told Al Jazeera that Hamas’s claims were “inaccurate” and the deal from the Palestinian group was “disappointing”.
New red lines
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, cited the US official as saying that the proposal on the table is only a “temporary ceasefire agreement” with Israel.
“What this would do is allow for half of the living captives, as well as half of the deceased, to be returned,” she said.
“In turn, the White House believes this would lead towards a diplomatic path of discussions that could result in a permanent ceasefire. And this is the deal that the source tells Al Jazeera is what Hamas should take,” she added.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a recorded message on social media, promising to bring back the 58 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza, of whom some 20 are believed to still be alive.
“If we don’t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up,” Netanyahu said.
“We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead,” he added.
The Israeli leader made no mention of the proposed deal.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman, said Netanyahu has long rejected Hamas’s calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and pledged to continue the war until “total victory” is achieved against the Palestinian group.
“The Israeli premier has even added new red lines for what to him would bring an end of the war,” Salhut said.
“That includes the return of the Israeli captives, the demilitarisation of Hamas [and] the exile of military and political leaders. And, also, the implementation of Trump’s plan for Gaza. This is a plan that has been widely condemned as ethnic cleansing, and the White House even walked it back several months ago,” she said.
“But Netanyahu says that’s what he wants if there is to be an end of the war.”
For its part, Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining captives all at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. It has also said it is willing to cede control of the Gaza Strip to an interim government, as proposed in an Arab League-backed $53bn plan for the enclave’s reconstruction.
The Palestinian group, however, has refused to lay down arms or exile its leaders from Gaza, saying the demand is a “red line” as long as Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory continues.
‘All eyes on Doha’
In Gaza, Palestinians said they were desperate for any deal to bring an end to Israel’s relentless bombardment and blockade, which has left the enclave’s entire population on the brink of famine.
“All Palestinian eyes are on Doha,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“Since Israel resumed the war, Palestinians have been attacked in their homes, schools, makeshift tents and also in so-called safe humanitarian zones… They are also saying they are not able to even secure one meal for their families,” Khoudary said.
“Palestinians here are saying they do not have any options left, and they are trying to survive the Israeli air strikes and the mass starvation that has been imposed on them.”
Israel resumed the war on Gaza on March 18, two weeks after imposing a total blockade on the enclave.
Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,822 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s renewed offensive, and the confirmed overall death toll has now reached 53,977. Some 122,966 people have been wounded.
Israel eased its blockade last week, saying it has let in some 170 aid trucks into Gaza, but humanitarian officials say they are nowhere near the amount needed to feed the enclave’s two million people after 11 weeks of a total siege.
