[source image]
Dow Jones NewsAug 19, 1:47 PM UTC
DJ Hamas Accepts Temporary Cease-Fire After Rejecting Proposal to End War -- Update
By Summer Said and Anat Peled
Hamas accepted a proposal for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza on Monday, after rejecting a proposition that would end the war if the group returned all Israeli hostages and ceded control of Gaza to an international force, Arab mediators said.
The proposal Hamas said it accepted on Monday was nearly the same as one that had been offered by Israel in July. Israel withdrew from the talks after Hamas added new terms to that offer.
Despite the appearance of progress, the negotiations are stuck on the same points that have long kept the war from ending. Israel says it won't stop fighting until Hamas gives up military and political control in Gaza. Hamas, meanwhile, is trying to survive.
The discussions also show that key Arab countries are increasingly ready to step in to take over the enclave for at least some time. Israel has insisted it maintain security control over Gaza even after the war ends.
The acceptance of the offer came after a round of tense talks over the weekend in Cairo between Palestinian factions and Egyptian and Qatari officials. Arab mediators told the militant group it could either accept the temporary cease-fire from the last round of talks or give up power and arms as part of a single deal to end the war in exchange for all the hostages, Arab officials said. Under this option, the militant group would cede power to an interim government backed by international forces largely led by Arab forces who would take over the enclave, the Arab officials said.
Hamas didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Hamas is under immense pressure," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, addressing reports about Hamas's response on Monday night. Since the collapse of talks last month, Netanyahu said he would only accept a single-stage deal to return all the hostages and end the war and for Hamas to relinquish its arms and power in the enclave.
A senior Israeli official said Israel is still demanding the release of all 50 hostages before ending the war.
Still, Israel is currently weighing whether to accept the deal and will likely give a response later this week, according to another Israeli official.
"They are saying yes again to the same proposal mainly because Egypt and Qatar are really putting pressure on them, because Egypt really doesn't want the Israeli operation in Gaza City to happen and is trying to prevent it," said Michael Milshtein, a former head of Palestinian affairs for Israeli military intelligence, referring to Hamas. "The ball right now is in Israel's court. It is receiving exactly the same ball. There isn't anything different here."
President Trump said Monday the remaining hostages would only be freed once "Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!!" in a post on Truth Social. "The sooner this happens, the better the chances of success will be."
The deal Hamas said it accepted is a modified version of a previous plan dubbed the Witkoff proposal, after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff who has been mediating in the talks.
It includes a 60-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 10 living hostages. The two sides would also immediately enter talks for a lasting cease-fire. Hamas showed a softening of its position in some areas, including agreeing on a lower number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged and a larger buffer zone, as Israel previously demanded, Arab officials said.
There are believed to be up to 20 hostages still left alive in Gaza, along with another 30 bodies held by Hamas.
The latest developments come after Israel announced plans earlier this month to take over Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to be sheltering and where some hostages are thought to be held.
Netanyahu said he spoke with his minister of defense on Monday about plans to take over the city. Israel has begun to transfer tents and shelter equipment into Gaza as part of preparations to move the population of Gaza City to Rafah, where it has plans to establish a tent city for the displaced population, Israeli and Egyptian officials briefed on the plans said.
Netanyahu is facing growing international and domestic pressure to end the war in Gaza amid concerns about a humanitarian crisis in the enclave and the risk that an expansion to the fighting could pose to Gazans and the remaining hostages in the enclave.
More than 62,000 people have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities, who don't say how many were combatants. Israel says that it currently controls around 75% of the Gaza Strip. An invasion of Gaza City would push Palestinians to shelter in an ever-shrinking piece of territory.
Polls in Israel show that around 80% of the Israeli population supports ending the war in return for the remaining hostages. Large demonstrations to end the war and return the hostages drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis to the streets on Sunday.
Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 19, 2025 09:47 ET (13:47 GMT)
Copyright © 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
