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| Efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza have intensified over the past few days |
The source told Reuters, under condition of anonymity because the talks are private, that the Hamas group has backed down from its demand that Israel first commit to a permanent truce before signing the pact and would enable negotiations to achieve that over the six-week first phase.
A senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday that Hamas has accepted a US request to start negotiations on freeing Israeli detainees, including men and soldiers, 16 days after the first round of an agreement meant to put an end to the Gaza war.
The source told Reuters, under condition of anonymity because the talks are private, that the Hamas group has backed down from its demand that Israel first commit to a permanent truce before signing the pact and would enable negotiations to achieve that over the six-week first phase.
According to a Palestinian official familiar with the internationally mediated peace process, if Israel accepts the idea, it might result in a framework agreement and put an end to the nine-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking anonymously on Friday, a member of Israel's negotiation team stated that there was now a genuine possibility of reaching a deal. This was in stark contrast to other incidents throughout the nine-month-old Gaza War, where Israel claimed that the conditions imposed by Hamas were intolerable.
On Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, a request for response from a representative of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not immediately answered. His administration stated on Friday that the parties will resume talks the following week, while underlining the gaps that still existed.
Since Hamas stormed southern Israeli communities on October 7, more than 38,000 Palestinians have died in the battle, according to Gaza health officials. Official Israeli numbers indicate that 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken captive.
According to the Hamas source, the revised proposal guarantees that mediators will arrange the delivery of aid, a temporary ceasefire, and the evacuation of Israeli troops, provided that indirect discussions are carried out to carry out the agreement's second phase.
Over the past few days, there has been a greater attempt to arrange a truce and the release of hostages in Gaza thanks to intensive shuttle diplomacy between the US, Israel, and Qatar. Qatar is spearheading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is located.
A regional source said the US administration was trying hard to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next week.
Some families of hostages on Saturday gave a statement to reporters ahead of a weekly hostage rally in Tel Aviv, in which they called on Netanyahu to go through with the deal.
"For the first time in many months, we feel hope," said Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, 24, who was abducted from his kibbutz home on Oct. 7. "This is an opportunity that cannot be missed," she said.
Fighting Rages
Health officials in the region reported that Israeli forces increased their military attacks throughout the enclave, killing at least 29 Palestinians in the last 24 hours and injuring 100 more.
Five local journalists were among those killed in separate airstrikes, bringing the total number of journalists murdered since October 7 to 158, according to the Gaza government media office, which is managed by Hamas.
Health officials reported that on Saturday, an airstrike on a Palestinian police car by Israeli troops, who have been extending their incursions into Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, resulted in the deaths of four police officers and the injuries of eight more.
A statement issued by the Hamas-run interior ministry said the four included Fares Abdel-Al, the head of the police force in western Rafah neighbourhood of Tel Al-Sultan.
According to the Israeli military, their forces carried out "intelligence-base operations" in Rafah, demolishing many underground buildings, taking weapons and equipment from Palestinian gunmen, and killing multiple of them.
Israel said that the goal of its actions in Rafah was to destroy the final battalions of the Hamas military wing.
Ten Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house in the central Al-Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave's eight original refugee camps, according to doctors.
According to the Israeli military, they destroyed a Hamas rocket group that was operating inside an area designated for humanitarian purposes. It claimed to have taken precautions to guarantee civilian safety before executing a targeted attack. Israeli claims that Hamas exploits civilian property for military ends are refuted by the organisation.
The Islamic Jihad and Hamas armed wings claimed that fighters used mortar bombs and anti-tank rockets to strike Israeli forces in several parts of the enclave.