By Samia Nakhoul and Muhammad Al Gebaly
DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to start talks on releasing Israeli hostages, together with troopers and males, 16 days after the primary part of an settlement aimed toward ending the Gaza struggle, a senior Hamas supply instructed Reuters on Saturday.
The militant Islamist group has dropped a requirement that Israel first decide to a everlasting ceasefire earlier than signing the settlement, and would enable negotiations to realize that all through the six-week first part, the supply instructed Reuters on situation of anonymity as a result of the talks are non-public.
A Palestinian official near the internationally mediated peace efforts had mentioned the proposal may result in a framework settlement if embraced by Israel and would finish the nine-month-old struggle between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A supply in Israel’s negotiating crew, talking on situation of anonymity, mentioned there was now an actual likelihood of attaining settlement. That was in sharp distinction to previous situations within the nine-month-old struggle in Gaza, when Israel mentioned situations hooked up by Hamas had been unacceptable.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his workplace mentioned talks would proceed subsequent week and emphasised that gaps between the edges nonetheless remained.
The battle has claimed the lives of greater than 38,000 Palestinians, in response to Gaza well being officers, since Hamas attacked southern Israeli cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 folks and taking some 250 hostages, in response to official Israeli figures.
The brand new proposal ensures that mediators would assure a short lived ceasefire, support supply and the withdrawal of Israeli troops so long as oblique talks proceed to implement the second part of the settlement, the Hamas supply mentioned.
Efforts to safe a ceasefire and hostage launch in Gaza have intensified over the previous few days with energetic shuttle diplomacy amongst Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is main mediation efforts from Doha, the place the exiled Hamas management is predicated.
A regional supply mentioned the U.S. administration was attempting laborious to safe a deal earlier than the presidential election in November.
Netanyahu mentioned on Friday that the pinnacle of Israel’s Mossad intelligence company had returned from an preliminary assembly with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would proceed subsequent week.
(Reporting and writing by Samia Nakhoul and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Further reporting by Maayan Lubell Modifying by Raju Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)