Hamas negotiators in Cairo have received a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza calling for an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches, a Palestinian official told AFP news agency.
"The proposal is a framework agreement to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire," the official said on Monday on condition of anonymity.
"Hamas will hold internal consultations among its leadership" and with leaders of other Palestinian parties to review the proposal from mediators, the source added.
This comes amid the Israeli military's plan to start a ground invasion in Gaza City. Rights groups and aid organisations have warned that an Israeli incursion in Gaza City would result in the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
The proposal was approved by the Trump administration, which was seen as a political manoeuvre by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain the stability of his governing coalition by appeasing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Smotrich recently threatened to resign after Netanyahu claimed Israel was allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza – despite a deliberate starvation policy that has triggered a catastrophic famine in the besieged enclave.
Smotrich, however, walked back his threat earlier on Monday. Netanyahu invited both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir to attend a cabinet meeting after they had previously been excluded from the decision to allow limited aid into Gaza.
Last week, the Palestinian resistance group said a senior delegation was in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on the efforts to secure an elusive ceasefire in the war, now in its 23rd month.
Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been involved in a mediation between Israel and Hamas.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Monday, said "as we speak now, there are Palestinian and Qatari delegations present on Egyptian soil working to intensify efforts to put an end to the systematic killing and starvation".
“We reject any Palestinian displacement from Gaza,” Badr Abdelatty told a press conference as he visited the Rafah crossing with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.
Last week, Abdelatty said that Cairo was working with Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce "with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees for the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions".
Egypt also reiterated its support for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Gaza, stressing the need to resume negotiations that would lead to a solution.
Cairo warned that continued violence and talk of expanded Israeli territorial ambitions risk undermining regional stability and prolonging the conflict.
