Hamas Agrees to Amended Witkoff Proposal Amid IDF Military Pressure
Mediators push for renewed 60-day truce and phased hostage release as Israel prepares military campaign to take Gaza City and then the remaining Gaza Strip.
Hamas has agreed to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators to a version of the Witkoff proposal for a phased hostage deal, according to reports in Arab media today (Monday).
Both mediators had placed heavy pressure on Hamas and the other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip to agree to the proposal under pressure from a coming IDF operation to take Gaza City, which the army was already preparing to carry out under an expedited timetable.
According to the reports, the proposal Hamas agreed to involves a partial release of hostages in exchange for a two month ceasefire, an influx of aid, and efforts to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.
Israel had been negotiating with Hamas on this basis for months but had made no progress, especially after the media campaign alleging Israeli starvation of Gazans succeeded in convincing Britain, France, Canada, Australia and others to recognize a state of Palestine unilaterally in the coming United Nations General Assembly session in September.
Hawkish National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded harshly to the idea of Israel agreeing to a partial hostage deal at this stage:
"If Netanyahu surrenders to Hamas and stops the war, this will be a cause for weeping for generations and a missed enormous opportunity.
"Last time the Prime Minister missed President Trump's ultimatum, which demanded the release of all hostages or 'the gates of hell will open,' despite my warning that this was a historic mistake.
"We have an opportunity now to defeat Hamas, and I say to the Prime Minister: you have no mandate to go to a partial deal and not defeat Hamas."