Hamas source claims terror group has agreed to Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
Hamas has agreed to the latest proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel, a source in the Palestinian armed group has claimed.
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Egyptian and Qatari mediators had been holding talks with the militant group in their latest effort to broker a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The source said a comprehensive two-stage plan has been offered, based on the framework advanced by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
As part of a 60-day temporary truce, Hamas would free around half of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages - 20 of whom are believed to be alive - in two stages.
Whilst this was taking place, negotiations would continue on a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli troop withdrawal.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials, who did not send any representatives to the negotiations in Cairo.
The talks come after Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavy populated areas after the ceasefire talks appeared to have broken down last month, raising the possibility of a worsening of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.
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Those plans, which may in part be aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the October 7 attack that started the war.
On Sunday night, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to demand that Israel's government agree a deal with Hamas to return the hostages.
The Palestinians and much of the international community say such plans would amount to forcible expulsion because Israel's air and ground war has left much of Gaza uninhabitable.
Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt "won't take part, and won't allow" any such plans, and called on other countries that have been in talks with Israel about resettling Palestinians "not to be involved in this heinous crime".
Many also fear the mass relocation of Palestinians could spell the end of their decades-long quest for an independent state.
Mr Abdelatty said Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya joined the talks in Cairo along with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack that ignited the war.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war had climbed to 62,004, with another 156,230 people wounded.
It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.
The UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.
The ministry said 1,965 people have been killed while seeking humanitarian aid since May, either in the chaos around UN convoys or while heading to sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor.
Witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired toward crowds of people seeking aid.
Israel says it has only fired warning shots at people who approached its forces while GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired into the air on rare occasions to prevent deadly crowding.