Israel accepts new US proposal for ceasefire with Hamas, says Israeli official
Israeli army tanks sit at the border between Israel and Gaza on Thursday.
By Dana Karni, CNN
(CNN) — Israel has accepted the new proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas from US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to an Israeli official.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Thursday said it “was reviewing the new Witkoff proposal” and was “responsibly studying it in a way that serves the interests of our people, provides relief, and achieves a permanent ceasefire.”
The Israeli official told CNN the proposal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages, as well as a 60-day truce. The official provided no details about the beginning of negotiations for a permanent end to the war, a key Hamas demand that Israel has refused to accept.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the hostage families earlier in the day that he had accepted Witkoff’s proposal.
During her briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that “special envoy Witkoff and the President submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported” and that discussions are ongoing.
“We hope that a cease fire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home and that’s been a priority for this administration from the beginning,” Leavitt added.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich said accepting the proposal would be “sheer madness,” writing on social media that he “will not allow such a thing to happen. Period.”
But Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the proposal “publicly and immediately.” He said he would support the government, even if its far-right members abandoned it.
A US official told CNN earlier this week that Witkoff has not met directly with Hamas. According to a source familiar with the matter, Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah met with Hamas in Doha about the proposal.
Bahbah, who led the group “Arab Americans for Trump” during the 2024 presidential campaign, has been working on behalf of the administration.
The-CNN-Wire
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Jeremy Diamond, Abeer Salman and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report
