Hamas studying US-backed ‘final ceasefire’ offer

• Trump says Israel has agreed to necessary conditions for 60-day truce
• Firing, strikes by Israeli forces claim lives of 139 Palestinians in 24 hours

CAIRO: After US President Donald Trump announced that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas said on Wednesday it was studying the so-called “final ceasefire proposal”.

But while the group wants Israel to completely pull out of the enclave, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has set his sights on the elimination of Hamas.

A day earlier, Trump had said that after a “long and productive” meeting between his representatives and Israeli officials, Tel Aviv had agreed to the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.

In its statement, Hamas said it was studying new ceasefire offers it received from the mediators Egypt and Qatar, but stressed it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas said it was “conducting national consultations to discuss what we received from the proposals of the… mediators.”

It added that it sought “to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israel from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip”.

Qatar and Egypt have been mediating efforts to end the conflict.

A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations said, “There are no fundamental changes in the new proposal” under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the United States.

The source said the new proposal “includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the (22) living” Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

“There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We’re not going back to that. It’s over,” Netanyahu claimed at a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel pipeline.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said a majority within the coalition government would back an agreement that would see the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza.

Of the 50 Israeli prisoners yet to be released, at least 20 are believed to be still alive.

Deaths in Gaza

Meanwhile, Gaza health authorities said Israeli gunfire and military strikes killed at least 139 Palestinians in separate attacks in north and southern areas over the past 24 hours.

Among those killed on Wednesday was Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, who perished in an airstrike that also claimed the lives of his wife and five children, medics say.

For Palestinians, who have fled multiple times and face daily struggles to find food 21 months into Israel’s military campaign, there was a glimmer of hope but many worried that any ceasefire would only be temporary.

“We want a complete end to the war on Gaza, not like every time — a partial agreement and ceasefire that lasts a month or two, then the war returns,” said Samir Al-Masri in Khan Yunis.

At the end of May, Hamas had said it was seeking amendments to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, which Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said was “totally unacceptable”.

That proposal had involved a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the remains of other Palestinians; Hamas would release the remaining Israeli prisoners as part of a deal that guarantees the end of the war.

A source close to Hamas said that Hamas leaders were expected to debate the proposal and seek clarifications from mediators before giving an official response.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run interior ministry has accused Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin clan leader, of treason and ordered him to surrender and face trial.

Shabab, who does not recognise the authority of Hamas and accuses the group of hurting the interests of Gaza, had 10 days to surrender, the ministry said.

The Abu Shabab group described the Hamas order as a “sitcom that doesn’t frighten us, nor does it frighten any free man who loves his homeland and its dignity”, in a post on the Facebook page that usually carried the group’s announcements.

Israel also claimed to back some of Gaza’s clans against Hamas, but has not said which.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2025



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