(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Hamas said on Monday that it had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by mediators Qatar and Egypt, which comes as Israel is planning a massive escalation that involves forcibly displacing more than one million Palestinians from Gaza City and sending them south.
“Hamas, along with the Palestinian factions, relayed their acceptance of the proposal put forward yesterday by the Qatari and Egyptian mediators,” Hamas said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.
According to an Arab diplomat speaking to The Times of Israel, the deal would involve the release of 10 living Israeli captives and a 60-day truce, during which the two sides would be expected to engage in negotiations for a long-term ceasefire.
The Times report said that Israel has received the proposal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to dismiss the news and signaled he still planned to go ahead with the escalation in Gaza City.
Other Israeli officials outright rejected the idea of a deal with Hamas. “We fight only to win, and under no circumstances to stop halfway with a partial deal that abandons half of the hostages and could lead to ending the war in defeat,” said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Hamas was “willing to discuss a deal for the release of hostages, only because of its fear that we seriously intend to conquer Gaza City.”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on X that Netanyahu “has no mandate to pursue a partial deal.”
אין לנתניהו מנדט ללכת לעסקה חלקית
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) August 18, 2025
President Trump has backed Israel’s plans to escalate its genocidal war, claiming in a post on Truth Social on Monday that the only way to free the Israeli captives in Gaza is if Hamas is “confronted and destroyed,’
In light of the news of Hamas accepting a ceasefire proposal, the family members of Israelis held in Gaza are ramping up their pressure on Netanyahu to reach a deal. There have been significant protests in Israel calling for an agreement to release the captives.
“We demand that Netanyahu immediately conduct continuous negotiations for the release of all hostages from Gaza,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. “The people stand with the hostages. The people will bring the hostages back. The people will not allow the prime minister to sabotage another deal.”
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
