Hamas says it's ready for a ceasefire but it must put an an end to the war in Gaza

CAIRO – Hamas suggested Wednesday it was unfastened to a ceasefire statement with Israel but stopped abbreviated of accepting a U.S.-backed connection announced by President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting connected its longstanding presumption that immoderate woody bring an extremity to the warfare successful Gaza.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed connected presumption for a 60-day ceasefire successful Gaza and urged Hamas to judge the woody earlier conditions worsen. The U.S. person has been expanding unit connected the Israeli authorities and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage statement and bring astir an extremity to the war.

Trump said the 60-day play would beryllium utilized to enactment toward ending the warfare — thing Israel says it volition not judge until Hamas is defeated. He said a woody mightiness travel unneurotic arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week.

But Hamas' response, which emphasized its request that the warfare end, raised questions astir whether the latest connection could materialize into an existent intermission successful fighting.

Hamas authoritative Taher al-Nunu said the militant radical was “ready and superior regarding reaching an agreement.”

He said Hamas was “ready to judge immoderate inaugural that intelligibly leads to the implicit extremity to the war.”

A Hamas delegation is expected to conscionable with Egyptian and Qatari mediators successful Cairo connected Wednesday to sermon the proposal, according to an Egyptian official. The authoritative spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium wasn't authorized to sermon the talks with the media.

Israel and Hamas disagree astir however the warfare should end

Throughout the astir 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks betwixt Israel and Hamas person repeatedly faltered implicit whether the warfare should extremity arsenic portion of immoderate deal.

Hamas has said it is consenting to escaped the remaining 50 hostages, little past fractional of whom are said to beryllium alive, successful speech for a implicit Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an extremity to the war.

Israel says it volition lone hold to extremity the warfare if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, thing the radical refuses to do.

An Israeli authoritative said the latest connection calls for a 60-day woody that would see a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge successful humanitarian assistance to the territory. The mediators and the U.S. would supply assurances astir talks connected an extremity to the war, but Israel is not committing to that arsenic portion of the latest proposal, the authoritative said.

The authoritative spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to sermon the details of the projected woody with the media.

It was not wide however galore hostages would beryllium freed arsenic portion of the agreement, but erstwhile proposals person called for the merchandise of astir 10.

Israel has yet to publically remark connected Trump's announcement. On Monday, Trump is acceptable to big Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks astatine the White House, days aft Ron Dermer, a elder Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with apical U.S. officials astir Gaza, Iran and different matters.

Trump issues different warning

On Tuesday, Trump wrote connected societal media that Israel had "agreed to the indispensable conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which clip we volition enactment with each parties to extremity the War.”

“I hope, for the bully of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, due to the fact that it volition not get amended — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” helium said.

Trump’s informing whitethorn find a skeptical assemblage with Hamas. Even earlier the expiration of the war’s longest ceasefire successful March, Trump has repeatedly issued melodramatic ultimatums to unit Hamas to hold to longer pauses successful the warring that would spot the merchandise of much hostages and a instrumentality of much assistance to Gaza’s civilian populace.

Still, Trump views the existent infinitesimal arsenic a imaginable turning constituent successful the brutal struggle that has near more than 56,000 dead successful the Palestinian territory. The Gaza Health Ministry does not differentiate betwixt civilians and combatants successful its decease count, but says that much than fractional of the dormant are women and children.

The warfare began connected Oct. 7, 2023, erstwhile Hamas-led militants attacked confederate Israel, sidesplitting 1,200 radical and taking astir 250 hostages.

The warfare has near the coastal Palestinian territory successful ruins, with overmuch of the municipality scenery flattened successful the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 cardinal colonisation has been displaced, often aggregate times. And the warfare has sparked a humanitarian situation successful Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of radical toward hunger.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Josef Federman contributed from Jerusalem.

___

Follow the AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.