The Media Line: Report: Hamas Proposes Releasing 9 Hostages in Exchange for Ceasefire, Israeli Pullback

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

Report: Hamas Proposes Releasing 9 Hostages in Exchange for Ceasefire, Israeli Pullback

By The Media Line Staff

A senior Hamas official told CNN on Sunday that the group is willing to release between seven to nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners. The proposed deal would also require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw to the eastern edges of the Gaza Strip, past the Salah al-Din Corridor.

It remains unclear whether this offer has been formally presented in the ongoing negotiations in Qatar, where talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, have stalled repeatedly in recent weeks.

The report comes amid mounting international pressure to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has faced a near-total blockade for more than two and a half months. In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Israel had “indicated” that it would begin allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave soon.

“There are going to be mobile kitchens that are going to be sent in. We have trucks with flour waiting at the border,” Witkoff said. “The issue now is how do we logistically get all of those trucks into Gaza? How do we set up the aid stations?”

Witkoff emphasized that the US is working “closely” with Israel on aid logistics and asserted that “there is no daylight” between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue. “We do not want to see a humanitarian crisis, and we will not allow it to occur on President Trump’s watch,” he said.