US President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Israeli officials have expressed optimism that Hamas will agree to the truce as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the White House to meet with President Trump on Monday.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
As mediators awaited a response from Hamas on Friday on whether it was prepared to accept the latest hostage release and ceasefire deal, US President Donald Trump gave the terror group assurances that the 21-month war would end.
Channel 12 provided a rendition of Trump’s offer according to sources familiar with the matter; Trump will “commit that negotiations over the terms for ending the war will continue even after a temporary ceasefire, and that I will do everything in my power to help the parties reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.”
Trump’s assurances were conditional on Hamas accepting the proposal put forward by special envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased captives over a 60-day truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. In return, the US would work to bring the conflict to a conclusion.
An impasse between the two sides that has torpedoed previous hostage and ceasefire proposals has arisen out of a disagreement about the end of the war, with Israel insisting on “total victory” over Hamas and the right to continue its military campaign after temporary truces and Hamas demanding a complete cessation of hostilities and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
The mediators have given assurances that fighting will not continue during negotiations. However, Israel insists that it should have the right to resume its operations if Hamas fails to abide by the agreement.
Israeli officials have expressed optimism that Hamas will agree to the truce as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the White House to meet with President Trump on Monday.
Hamas said it was reviewing the proposal with other Palestinian groups and that it would give a formal statement on Friday regarding whether or not it agreed to go forward with the truce.
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