Gaza [Palestine] / Tel Aviv [Israel], March 30: The Palestinian Hamas says it is prepared to release five hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip as part of a new 50-day ceasefire.
A high-ranking member of the group said on Saturday that it had agreed to a corresponding proposal from Egypt. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government had received a proposal from the mediators and had made a counter-offer in consultation with the United States.
According to the ynet news website, Israel is demanding the release of ten hostages. Hamas wants a commencement of the ceasefire on the days following the end of the Islamic sacred fasting month of Ramadan.
The corresponding Eid Al Fitr celebrations begin in the Palestinian territories and many other countries on Sunday.
An agreement is only likely to be reached after Eid Al Fitr due to the Israeli counter-proposal, Israel's Walla news website reported, citing an Israeli official.
According to the report, the bodies of deceased hostages could also be handed over to Israel as part of a new deal.
The Egyptian draft is similar to a proposal made by US special envoy Steve Witkoff a few weeks ago, the report continued. Hamas rejected the proposal at the time.
Israeli media have speculated that Hamas is also pushing for a ceasefire to quell recent protests against its rule in the Gaza Strip. However, such demonstrations have been largely impossible due to the ongoing Israeli military strikes.
Meanwhile, nine Palestinian paramedics have been missing for a week in southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) rescue organization said on Saturday.
Their fate is unknown after they were targeted by Israeli forces, the rescue service said.
The PRCS also accused Israeli authorities of preventing a rescue team from searching for the missing people in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood.
"We condemn Israel's deliberate obstruction of the search efforts and hold it responsible for the lives of our team members," the organization said in a statement posted on X.
The group is calling on the international community to put pressure on the Israeli authorities to reveal the fate of the missing paramedics.
The Israeli military said in a statement that suspicious vehicles had approached Israeli troops shortly after they "eliminated several Hamas terrorists" in southern Gaza on Sunday.
"An initial inquiry indicates that the vehicles were moving without prior coordination, and without headlights or emergency signals," the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
The Israeli forces then fired on the vehicles.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the massacre carried out by Palestinian groups on October 7, 2023.
Israel responded with massive bombardments aiming to eliminate Hamas. More than 50,000 people have died in the sealed-off coastal area in the resulting conflict, which recently resumed following a two-month ceasefire.
Source: Qatar Tribune
