Sola Adeniji|M10news|World News|18 August 2025
A senior Hamas official has confirmed the group has accepted a ceasefire proposal, though without providing details on what had been agreed.
The militant group has in previous negotiations responded positively to draft deals, but then suggested amendments that Israel deemed unacceptable.
Prisoner exchanges at the core
Sky’s International Correspondent Diana Magnay, reporting from Jerusalem, said the latest development appears to mirror a plan floated by Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, involving a 60-day truce.
“Hamas is understood to have accepted the ceasefire within that framework, with a phased release of prisoners and detainees,” she explained.
“According to Arab mediators, Hamas agreed without making major changes to the draft,” she added.
Pressure on mediators
An Egyptian security source told Reuters that the arrangement would see Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for the release of roughly half of the Israeli hostages still held inside Gaza.
Israel has not yet issued any official response to the proposal.
Magnay said Cairo and Doha, alongside Hamas, had come under mounting pressure to strike an interim deal before Israeli forces advance further into Gaza City.
US scepticism
“That explains why Egyptian mediators worked intensively over the weekend in Cairo to put a framework together,” she said.
“The question now is whether Benjamin Netanyahu will agree — or whether the Israeli prime minister will press on with military operations in Gaza instead,” she continued.
Egyptian efforts continue
Earlier on Monday, US President Donald Trump appeared sceptical of ceasefire prospects.
“The remaining hostages will only return when Hamas is confronted and destroyed. The sooner this happens, the greater the chances of success,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Rising death toll
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said mediators had been making “extensive efforts” to revive the US-backed 60-day truce plan, under which hostages would be released and talks on a longer-term cessation of hostilities could begin.
Gaza health officials said the death toll after 22 months of war has now exceeded 62,000 Palestinians.
