Hamas is ready for a hostage deal that includes a Gaza ceasefire and a withdrawal of the IDF, the group’s Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech on the occasion of the Islamic Eid al-Adha on Sunday.
'Hamas ready for a comprehensive deal,' says Haniyeh
“Hamas and the (Palestinian) groups are ready for a comprehensive deal which entails a ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, the reconstruction of what was destroyed, and a comprehensive swap deal,” Haniyeh said.
His comments referred to renewed efforts to forge a deal for the remaining 120 hostages seized on October 7, based on a three-phased deal unveiled by US President Joe Biden May 31.
Egypt and Qatar, which along with the United States have been mediating between Hamas and Israel – said on June 11 that they received a response from the Palestinian groups to the US plan, without giving further details.
The US, however, has stated Hamas pushed for amendments, some of which were bridgeable and some of which did not appear to be. Israel has also found the amendments, including an upfront pledge to end the war, unworkable.
Israel has accepted the deal, which deals with the issue of a permanent ceasefire only once the deal is underway. It has insisted that any deal must allow for its military campaign to continue until such time as Hamas is ousted from Gaza.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that Qatar and Egypt planned to renew their efforts to close the deal.
Haniyeh said in his Saturday speech that Hamas’s response was consistent with the principles put forward by Biden on May 31.
A senior Hamas leader has told Reuters that the changes the group requested were “not significant.“
KAN reported on Sunday that Hezbollah advised Hamas to show flexibility. The report comes amid increased violence in the IDF-Hezbollah war along Israel’s northern border. The US believes that if a deal can be reached to return the hostages and end the Gaza war, it would be possible to also find a diplomatic solution for the violence in the North.