As Gaza reels under strikes, Hamas offers full hostage release and long-term ceasefire

Hamas has indicated readiness to agree to an arrangement that would end the war in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and secure a five-year truce, an official said on Saturday ahead of negotiations with mediators.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators to explore solutions to the 18-month conflict. Meanwhile, in Gaza City, rescuers reported that an Israeli airstrike on a family residence killed at least 10 people, with more believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

Speaking anonymously to AFP, the Hamas official said the group “is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years.”

The latest ceasefire effort follows an Israeli proposal, previously rejected by Hamas earlier this month, which the group dismissed as “partial.” Hamas has instead pushed for a “comprehensive” agreement to end the war that began after its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Israel’s offer had included a 45-day ceasefire in return for the release of 10 living hostages.

Hamas continues to insist that any truce must lead to a complete cessation of hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a significant increase in humanitarian aid to the besieged territory, where, on Friday, the United Nations warned that food supplies were critically low.

Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages seized in the 2023 attack, and Hamas’s disarmament, which the group has rejected as a “red line”.

More than a month into a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza that followed a two-month truce, a Hamas official said earlier this week that its delegation in Cairo would discuss “new ideas” on a ceasefire.

On Saturday, Hamas released a video purportedly showing how it “rescued hostages” from a tunnel after it was allegedly bombed by the Israeli military.

Qatar, the United States and Egypt brokered one truce which began on January 19 and enabled a surge in aid, alongside exchanges of hostages and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

But it collapsed amid disagreements over the terms of the ceasefire’s next stage.

Israel then cut off all aid to Gaza, before resuming bombarding the territory on March 18, followed by a ground offensive.

Since then, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, at least 2,111 Palestinians have been killed, taking the overall war death toll in Gaza to 51,495 people.

The Hamas attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel says the renewed military campaign aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives.

On Friday, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) – one of the main providers of food aid in the Palestinian territory – said the hot meal kitchens it was supplying food to “are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days”.

With inputs from agencies