Hamas open to five-year truce and full hostage release deal

Sunday 27 April 2025 - 10:10

By: Zahouani Ilham

Hamas open to five-year truce and full hostage release deal

Hamas has expressed willingness to agree to a deal that would end the ongoing war in Gaza, release all hostages, and establish a five-year truce, according to an official speaking anonymously on Saturday. A Hamas delegation traveled to Cairo to discuss potential resolutions with Egyptian mediators, even as Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed at least 35 people in Gaza.

After nearly eight weeks of Israeli-imposed restrictions on humanitarian aid, the United Nations warns that food and medical supplies in Gaza are critically low.

The Hamas representative told AFP that the group is prepared to exchange all prisoners at once and commit to a five-year ceasefire. Later, Hamas announced that its delegation had left Cairo after talks.

These discussions follow Hamas's rejection of a previous Israeli offer, which they criticized as only a partial solution. The current negotiations seek a comprehensive agreement to fully end the conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The earlier Israeli proposal included a 45-day ceasefire in return for 10 hostages, but Hamas insists that any deal must include a permanent end to hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and increased humanitarian assistance.

A phased ceasefire plan proposed earlier this year, backed by then-US President Joe Biden, collapsed after two months when Israel and Hamas could not agree on moving forward. Hamas stresses that without international guarantees ensuring the war's end, any temporary ceasefire risks breaking down.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan reaffirmed that any deal lacking a complete and lasting ceasefire would be unacceptable. He also emphasized that Hamas would not surrender its arms as long as the Israeli occupation continues.

Meanwhile, Gaza endured more Israeli bombardments on Saturday. Civil defense teams reported at least 35 deaths, including 10 members of a single family in Gaza City. Israeli forces stated that they had targeted 1,800 "terror sites" and killed "hundreds of terrorists" since resuming operations on March 18.

The conflict, which has devastated Gaza, has left over 51,000 Palestinians dead, the majority civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Israel’s death toll from the initial Hamas attack stands at 1,218, mostly civilians, with 58 hostages still held in Gaza.

Humanitarian conditions continue to worsen. The UN’s World Food Programme warned that community kitchens in Gaza are running out of food. Many residents are struggling to find basic necessities like bread and flour, with a senior UN official stating that Gazans are "slowly dying," calling the situation not just a humanitarian crisis but a blow to human dignity.