Mediators await formal Israeli response

DUBAI, Aug 19 (BBC): Arab mediators are awaiting a formal response from Israel after Hamas said it had accepted a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The plan was presented by Qatar and Egypt, which are trying to avert a major new Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza fully.

Qatar said it was "almost identical" to a US proposal for a 60-day truce, during which around half of 50 hostages held in Gaza - 20 of whom are believed to be alive - would be handed over and the two sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.

In recent days, Israel's government has said it would no longer accept a partial deal - only a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages freed.

Local media quoted a senior Israeli official saying: "Israel's position hasn't changed - release of all hostages and fulfilment of other conditions defined for ending the war."

Later this week, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve the military's plan to occupy Gaza City, where intensifying Israeli strikes have already prompted thousands of people to flee.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to conquer all of Gaza - including the areas where most of its 2.1 million Palestinian residents have sought refuge - after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire deal broke down last month.

On Monday night, a Hamas statement announced that the armed group and other Palestinian factions had approved a ceasefire proposal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to their delegations in Cairo the previous day.

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told Al-Araby TV that they had not sought any amendments to the proposal, which he described as "a partial deal leading to a comprehensive deal".

He also emphasised that on the first day of its implementation, negotiations would begin with the aim of agreeing a permanent ceasefire.

"We hope that the 60 days of ceasefire will be sufficient to conclude a final agreement that will completely end this war," he said.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, told reporters in Doha on Tuesday that the proposal was "98%" similar to the one presented by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

"I won't go into the details of the language that is on the table right now. But what I can say is that it is very close, almost identical to what was there on the table," Ansari said.

"It is within the confines of the Witkoff plan... It's a continuation of that process. Obviously, it's in the details where the devil lies."

Witkoff had proposed a 60-day truce that would see Hamas release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages in two phases, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails. He also said that negotiations on a final agreement to end the war would begin on the first day of the deal.

Israel accepted Witkoff's plan, but Hamas rejected it, partly because it did not include a guarantee that the temporary ceasefire would lead to a permanent one. Israeli media reported that Israeli officials were examining the new proposal and Hamas's response.

According to public broadcaster Kan, Netanyahu has not ruled out the possibility of a partial deal despite his recent statements that he will only accept a comprehensive deal.