Its counter-offer is also seeking a reconstruction of Gaza and full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
DOHA – Hamas has proposed a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza for 4½ months, during which all hostages would go free, Israel would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived overnight in Israel after meeting the leaders of mediators Qatar and Egypt, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the proposal. Mr Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, confirmed the offer had been passed via Egypt and Qatar to Israel and the United States.
In Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where half of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are penned against the border fence with Egypt, the bodies of 10 people killed by Israeli strikes overnight were laid out in a hospital morgue. Washington has cast the hostage and truce deal as part of plans for a wider resolution of the Middle East conflict, ultimately leading to reconciliation between Israel and Arab neighbours and the creation of a Palestinian state.
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