A senior Palestinian official familiar with Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations has said that Qatari and Egyptian mediators have proposed a new formula to end the war in Gaza.
The Palestinian official familiar with the talks said that Hamas has signalled its readiness to hand over governance of Gaza to any Palestinian entity agreed upon “at the national and regional level”. The official said this could be the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) or a newly formed administrative body.
According to the official, it envisages a truce lasting between five and seven years, the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a formal end to the war, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
A senior Hamas delegation was due to arrive in Cairo for consultations.
The last ceasefire collapsed a month ago when Israel resumed bombing Gaza, with both sides blaming each other for the failure to keep it going.
Israel has not commented on the mediators’ plan.
Hamas will be represented at discussions in Cairo by the head of its political council, Mohammed Darwish, and its lead negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya.
It comes days after the movement rejected Israel’s latest proposal, which included a demand for Hamas to disarm in return for a six-week truce.
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not end the war before Hamas was destroyed and all the hostages returned. Hamas has demanded that Israel commit to ending the war before the hostages are freed.
Netanyahu has ruled out any role for the PA in the future governance of Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007.
