Hamas is open to freeing hostages, five-year truce in Gaza, official says
Hamas would accept a deal to end the Gaza war that would involve the release of all Israeli hostages and a five-year truce, an official from the Palestinian group said on Saturday. A Hamas delegation was scheduled to meet mediators in Cairo later the same day.
"Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.
On April 17, Hamas, which opposes a "partial" ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.
The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory.
Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza – the latter being a "red line" for the Islamist movement.
The war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.
Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are dead, according to the Israeli army.
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20250426-hamas-is-open-to-freeing-hostages-five-year-truce-in-gaza-official-says