Israel has offered Hamas a 40-day ceasefire and the release of ‘potentially thousands’ of Palestinian prisoners in return for freeing Israeli hostages, Lord Cameron has revealed.
The Foreign Secretary described it as ‘a very generous offer’ as he spoke during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A Hamas delegation is due in Egypt today, where it is expected to respond to the latest proposal for a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages after almost seven months of war.
‘I hope Hamas do take this deal and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes of the world should be on them today saying take that deal,’ Cameron said, adding the proposal would lead to a ‘stop in the fighting that we all want to see so badly’.
It comes amid reports that Israel has reduced the number of hostages it is seeking to be freed in the first phase of a new truce, saying it will settle for the release of just 33 people initially as all parties desperately seek a deal after months of deadlock.
A smoke plume billows following Israeli bombardment north of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024
A protester with a zipper over her mouth, holds a placard showing pictures of Israeli hostages taken captive during the October 7 attacks
Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas on November 26, 2023
Israel has been pushing for the release of at least 40 hostages, including women, children, the seriously ill and the elderly, over recent months.
But amid heightened domestic pressure from protesters to bring the hostages home, the government is now prepared to settle for the release of fewer people to kickstart a ceasefire deal, the New York Times reports citing three Israeli officials.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, but a flurry of diplomacy in recent days appeared to suggest a new push towards halting hostilities.
Lord Cameron said that for a ‘political horizon for a two-state solution’, with an independent Palestine co-existing with Israel, the ‘people responsible for October 7, the Hamas leadership, would have to leave Gaza and you’ve got to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza’.
‘You’ve got to see a political future for the Palestinian people, but you’ve also crucially got to see security for Israel and those two things have to go together,’ he added.
He cautioned that it ‘never pays’ to be optimistic in pushing for an end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, but insisted the group should take the deal being offered.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier weighed in, saying Hamas had been presented with an ‘extraordinarily generous’ offer by Israel that he hoped it would accept.
‘They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly. So, we’re looking to that and I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic,’ he told the summit.
The streets in the Gaza Strip are unrecognisable after almost seven months of Israeli attacks
Relatives of two Palestinians who were killed in the Israeli army attacks in Wadi Gaza mourn after their families brought their bodies to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on April 28
An aerial view of destruction after Israeli army’s attacks on Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on April 27, 2024
A Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP that the militant group ‘is open to discussing the new proposal positively’ and is ‘keen to reach an agreement that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for (prisoner) exchange and ensuring an end to the siege’ in Gaza.
A Senior Hamas official said on social media today that the group is reviewing a new Israeli proposal, but did not disclose its details.
Israel claims an estimated 129 hostages are still being detained in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
A one-week ceasefire in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians who had been holed up in Israeli prisons.
Although the latest talks were ‘very good, focused, held in good spirits, and progressed in all parameters,’ according to an Israeli official, Egypt seemed willing to pressure Hamas toward reaching a deal, claiming that ‘in the background, there are very serious intentions from Israel to move ahead in Rafah’.
‘This is the last chance before we go into Rafah,’ the official said.
The Foreign Secretary described it as ‘a very generous offer’ as he spoke during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh. Pictured in Israel in November
‘The number of days of the ceasefire will be linked to the number of hostages who will be released. If Hamas does want a humanitarian deal, Israel will not be the obstacle,’ an Israeli official told Axios before talks with Egypt.
They also mentioned that Israel was willing to make further allowances including the return of residents to northern Gaza.
The conversations come after at least 22 people were killed in Rafah overnight, according to medics and the Civil Defence agency.
Locals and rescuers reported a series of airstrikes on Rafah, where the majority of Gaza’s 2.4million population have sought refuge near the border with Egypt.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamas had been presented with an ‘extraordinarily generous’ offer
Israel has vowed to go after Hamas battalions in the southern Gaza city, but the prospect has sent alarm bells ringing worldwide as much of war-torn Gaza’s civilians have fled there.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Saturday, however, that Israel would be willing to call off a ground offensive in Rafah of Hamas accept the deal to release hostages.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to local health officials, and left a swathe of destruction across the territory.
It was sparked by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted another 250 hostages.
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