The murderous terror organization Hamas announced early Thursday morning that it has officially delivered its response to the mediators regarding the ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
A source involved in the negotiations confirmed to Kan News that Hamas submitted its response to the mediators. At this time, it is unclear whether the response was positive or negative.
A senior Israeli official quoted by Channel 12 News said that Israel has received Hamas’s response to the proposal and is currently reviewing it. The official noted that the most recent response is better than the one the terror organization submitted a day earlier, which was outright rejected by the mediators.
“There has been an improvement in Hamas’s response compared to yesterday - there’s now something to work with,” the Israeli official said.
Following Hamas's submission of its response, the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will meet on Thursday with Minister Ron Dermer and another senior Qatari official. The meeting will take place on the island of Sardinia, Italy.
On Wednesday evening, Al-Arabiya reported that Hamas had expressed initial agreement to the new proposal for a hostage release deal and ceasefire, and that its response was expected to be positive.
Palestinian Arab sources stated that Hamas had already submitted an initial response to the mediators on Tuesday, but it was rejected for failing to meet the proposal’s key conditions. Following that, the mediators reportedly sent a firm message to Hamas, demanding immediate and significant flexibility.
Kan News also reported that Hamas has demanded the reopening of the Rafah crossing as part of the ongoing hostage deal negotiations. According to Palestinian Arab sources, this demand is highly likely to be accepted by Israel.
If accepted, it would mark the first time since the outbreak of the war that Gazans would be permitted to re-enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing.
Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem conveyed that Israel does not intend to offer further concessions to Hamas, following a series of compromises already made to advance the release of hostages.