A source close to Hamas said the group seeks guarantees that the proposal will lead to an end to the war in Gaza.
The Palestinian group Hamas has said it is in consultations with various Palestinian factions about the latest ceasefire proposal for Gaza, as Israel’s relentless bombardment of the besieged enclave enters its 21st month.
The Hamas statement early on Friday said: “In the context of the movement’s commitment to ending the Zionist aggression against our people and ensuring the free entry of humanitarian aid, the movement is conducting consultations with the leaders of Palestinian forces and factions around the proposal it received from the brotherly mediators.
“The movement will submit a final decision to the mediators after the consultations are over and will announce that officially,” it added.
A source close to Hamas said the group has sought guarantees that the new United States-backed ceasefire proposal, the details of which two Israeli officials said were still being worked out, would lead to an end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and not allow Israel to break the ceasefire and continue its war at any time of its choosing.
US President Donald Trump has said he expects a response from the Palestinian group Hamas within 24 hours on whether they will accept what he describes as a “final proposal” for a ceasefire, as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week.
When asked on Friday whether Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, Trump replied: “We’ll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours.”
Trump said on Thursday that “I want to see safety for the people of Gaza. They’ve gone through hell.”
“I want the people of Gaza to be safe, more importantly,” Trump told reporters when asked if he still wanted the US to take over the Palestinian territory as he announced in February, a proposal which was condemned globally by rights experts, the United Nations and Palestinians who described it as “ethnic cleansing”.
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.
A previous two-month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18 and led to what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called “the cruellest phase of a cruel war”. More than 6,000 Palestinians have been killed since that truce was ended by Israel.
Trump will host Netanyahu on Monday, pushing for a key legacy moment for his presidency during which he can declare a truce.
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the war began after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, hundreds of thousands have been displaced multiple times, cities and towns have been razed, hospitals and schools targeted, and 85 percent of the besieged and bombarded enclave is now under Israeli military control, according to the UN.
