Israel demands release of all Gaza hostages, casting doubt on ceasefire proposal

Israel is demanding the release of all 50 hostages held in Gaza, an Israeli official has said, casting doubt on whether it will accept a new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire agreed to by Hamas on Monday.

Israel’s stance was “in accordance with the principles set by the cabinet to end the war”, the official added, without explicitly rejecting the plan from mediators Qatar and Egypt.

The proposal, which would see the release of around half the hostages, is “almost identical” to a US proposal Israel had previously accepted, Qatar said.

Palestinian sources said 10 living and 18 dead hostages would be handed over while the sides negotiated a permanent ceasefire and the return of the other hostages.

Israel believes that only 20 of the 50 hostages are still alive after 22 months of war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented publicly on the proposal, but he did say on Monday that Hamas was “under immense pressure”.

Later this week, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve the military’s plan to occupy Gaza City, where intensifying Israeli strikes have already prompted thousands of people to flee.

Netanyahu announced Israel’s intention to conquer all of Gaza – including the areas where most of its 2.1 million Palestinian residents have sought refuge – after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire deal broke down last month.

On Monday night, a Hamas statement announced that the armed group and other Palestinian factions had approved a ceasefire proposal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to their delegations in Cairo the previous day.

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told Al-Araby TV that they had not sought any amendments to the proposal, which he described as “a partial deal leading to a comprehensive deal”.

He also emphasised that on the first day of its implementation, negotiations would begin with the aim of agreeing a permanent ceasefire.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, told reporters in Doha on Tuesday that the proposal was “98%” similar to the one presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff in June.

“It is within the confines of the Witkoff plan… It’s a continuation of that process. Obviously, it’s in the details where the devil lies,” Ansari said.

Witkoff proposed a 60-day truce that would see Hamas release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages on days one and seven, in exchange for 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails, 1,111 detainees from Gaza and the bodies of 180 Gazans.

Israel accepted Witkoff’s plan, but Hamas rejected it, partly because it did not include a guarantee that the temporary ceasefire would lead to a permanent one.

A Palestinian official told the BBC that the Egyptian and Qatari proposal would see Hamas release eight living hostages on day one and two more on day 50. Five dead hostages would be handed over on day seven, five more on day 30, and another eight on day 60.

In return, Israel would release 1,500 detainees from Gaza as well as 150 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 50 others serving terms longer than 15 years, the official said.

Israeli forces would also withdraw to areas of Gaza located between 800m and 1.2km (0.5-0.75 miles) from the perimeter with Israel during the truce, but would remain stationed in the Morag and Philadelphi military corridors in the south of the territory, the official added.

On Tuesday afternoon, an Egyptian source familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that the mediators had not yet received a formal response from Israel to the new proposal.

However, the official in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office told Israeli journalists: “Israel’s policy remains consistent and unchanged. Israel demands the release of all 50 hostages in accordance with the principles set by the cabinet to end the war.”

“We are in the final stage of defeating Hamas and will not leave any hostage behind.”

Although the statement was not an explicit rejection of the proposal, it does suggest that Israel may want to negotiate further.

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office put out a similar statement saying that Israel would only “agree to a deal on condition that all the hostages are released in one go” and that the conditions for ending the war included the disarming of Hamas, the demilitarisation of Gaza, Israeli control of the Gaza perimeter, and the installation of non-Hamas and non-Palestinian Authority governance.

Netanyahu said in a video on Monday that he had discussed with senior Israeli military commanders their “plans regarding Gaza City and the completion of our missions”.

“Like you, I hear the reports in the media, and from them you can get one impression – Hamas is under immense pressure,” he added.

The prime minister himself faces pressure from his far-right coalition partners who want to keep the war going until Hamas’s defeat and then annex Gaza.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel must not accept a partial deal “that abandons half of the hostages and that could lead to the suspension of the war in defeat”.

“It is forbidden to surrender and give a lifeline to the enemy,” he added.

Hostages’ families and a majority of the Israeli public meanwhile want Netanyahu to agree a deal with Hamas to end the war now and bring all the hostages home.

“About a month ago, we were closer than ever to signing a deal. The Witkoff outline would have put Israel into intensive negotiations,” Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son Matan is believed to be among those still alive in captivity, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

“Netanyahu… is deliberately setting unworkable conditions as an obstacle,” she warned.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 62,064 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed global food security experts have warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” due to food shortages.