Hamas says it is still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a Gaza ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, won a cool initial reaction Thursday from the terrorist group. But President Donald Trump said Friday negotiators were nearing a deal.

“They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow,” Trump told reporters in Washington. Late in the evening, asked if he was confident Hamas would approve the deal, he told reporters: “They’re in a big mess. I think they want to get out of it.”

U.S. negotiators have not publicized the terms of the proposal. But a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March.

In a terse statement issued a few hours before Trump spoke, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions over the proposal it had received from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

A United Nations spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, urged the parties to “find the political courage” to secure an agreement.

While changes may have been made to the proposal, the version confirmed earlier called for Israeli forces to pull back to the positions they held before it ended the last ceasefire. Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza.

“Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal,” Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani said Friday, referring to talks between her country, the United States and Egypt. “We are very determined to find an ending to this horrific situation in Gaza.”

The war began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages.

Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza, but Israel believes 35 are dead and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several others.

Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday morning in Jerusalem, his office said.

The office did not provide further information about whether Netanyahu was moderately sedated or under general anesthesia for the procedure.

Netanyahu, 75, underwent successful surgery in December to have his prostate removed.

Since the war began, more than 54,000 Gaza residents have been killed according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.

Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes late Friday targeted missile storage facilities on Syria’s Mediterranean coast that the Israeli military said “posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation,” according to a brief statement.

Meanwhile, with the world’s attention fixed on efforts to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, talks are quietly continuing to liberate an Israeli hostage held in Iraq by a different Iranian-backed terrorist group.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a 38-year-old graduate student at Princeton University was kidnapped in 2023 while doing research in Iraq, and officials from several countries say progress is being made to secure her release.

Relatives of Tsurkov — who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship — are trying to remain optimistic. Even though the circumstances are completely different, the release of hostages from Gaza earlier this year gave the family reason to stay hopeful that Tsurkov, who marks 800 days in captivity on Thursday, will also be freed.

“It’s like a phoenix rising from the ashes when the hostages come out. You see that despite everything they’ve been through, there is still life in them,” said Emma Tsurkov, the scholar’s sister.

There were reports over the weekend that negotiators were very close to a deal, but the terms are complicated and Tsurkov’s sister said no deal appears imminent.

“One of the most difficult parts about having a loved one in captivity is the uncertainty,” she said.

Negotiators are focusing on an exchange that would include seven Lebanese captured during the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah. But Iraqi and Lebanese officials told The Associated Press the talks recently stalled over Iran’s demand for the release of one of its citizens detained in Iraq for the killing of an American.

Elizabeth Tsurkov disappeared in Baghdad in March 2023 while doing research for her doctorate at Princeton. The only direct sign of life her family has received is a November 2023 video of her broadcast on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media.

In the past few months, officials from several countries, including the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister, have confirmed she is alive and being held in Iraq by a Shiite Muslim terrorist group called Kataeb Hezbollah, according to her sister. The group has not claimed the kidnapping nor have Iraqi officials publicly said which group is responsible.

Elizabeth Tsurkov is a well-known academic who was often interviewed in the media, and her research was focused on sectarianism in the Middle East, specifically Iraq.

“If we want a good understanding of the Middle East, we need people like my sister to travel to the Middle East to research it,” Emma Tsurkov said.