Hamas demands changes to US Gaza ceasefire plan - as Steve Witkoff slams 'totally unacceptable' proposal

31 May 2025, 17:37 | Updated: 1 June 2025, 07:50

Hamas has agreed to release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in response to the US' Gaza ceasefire proposals put forward by Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Mr Witkoff said: "I received the Hamas response to the United States' proposal. It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.

"That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days."

The full details of the US ceasefire plan are yet to be made public and are unconfirmed.

Israel has not yet responded to Hamas' response to the proposed ceasefire deal.

The key points below are reportedly included in the proposal, according to Reuters.

• A 60-day pause in fighting
• The release of 28 Israeli hostages - alive and dead - in the first week, and the release of 30 more once a permanent ceasefire is in place
• The release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians
• The sending of humanitarian aid to Gaza via the United Nations and other agencies

Hamas - a proscribed terror group in the UK, US and EU - says the response aims for a "permanent ceasefire" and "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas is seeking guarantees that aid will be able to safely arrive to Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamas also says it will release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for "an agreed upon number" of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Read more: US submits new Gaza ceasefire proposal with Israeli support while Hamas evaluates, White House says

Read more: Last working hospital in North Gaza out of service after Israeli military orders evacuation

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Earlier this week, the White House said Israel had "signed off" on Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's plan.

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza and resumed its military offensive against Hamas on 18 March - ending a two-month ceasefire mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

The news of a ceasefire proposal comes as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip blocked and offloaded dozens of food trucks on Saturday, according to the UN World Food Programme.

The WFP said 77 trucks carrying aid - mostly flour - were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the trucks had reached their destination.

This also follows from the news that four people died after hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations warehouse in Gaza in a desperate search for food supplies.

Two people were crushed while two others died from gunshot wounds, health officials said.

It came as crowds descended on a World Food Programme warehouse in central Gaza earlier on Wednesday.

Women and children also sustained injuries from gunshot wounds, a Red Cross field hospital said.

Large parts of the crowd could be seen carrying large bags of flour while they tried to force their way into the warehouse.

A UN envoy compared the limited aid being allowed into Gaza to “a lifeboat after the ship has sunk”.

Sigrid Kaag, the acting UN special coordinator for the Middle East, told the UN security council that people facing famine in Gaza “have lost hope”.

The Palestinian health ministry said 60 have been killed and 284 people have been injured in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total death toll to 54,381 since the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023.

A further 124,054 have been injured.

Israel had previously blocked any humanitarian aid, including food, water and medical supplies, from entering Gaza for three months.

Israel lifted the block to allow a "basic quantity of food" in to prevent a “starvation crisis”, basing this "on the operational need to enable the expansion of the military operation to defeat Hamas."

This week, militant group Hamas ordered Palestinians to stay away from vital aid delivered by a US-backed organisation.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has ties to both the Israeli and US governments, has been approved by Israel to take over aid deliveries inside the Strip, despite strong opposition from the UN and most aid groups.

The Hamas-linked Home Front published a statement which said: “Do not go to Rafah ...Do not fall into the trap...Do not risk your lives. Your homes are your fortress. Staying in your neighbourhoods is survival, and awareness is your protection.

“These schemes will be broken by the steadfastness of a people who do not know defeat.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel killed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar.

Sinwar was the younger brother of the group's former leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF last year, and the de facto leader in Gaza.

Speaking to parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu included Mohammed in a list of Hamas leaders killed in strikes.

Israel targeted Sinwar in a set of strikes on the European hospital in Khan Younis.

The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded over 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.