Hamas told Egypt and Qatar that they agreed to a cease-fire to stop the fighting in Gaza.
Israel is looking at the proposal Hamas agreed to but hasn’t said if they’ll accept or reject it yet, according to an Israeli official speaking to NBC News.
“We’re looking at everything we hear and trying to bring the hostages home as quickly as we can,” said Israel Defense Forces Officer Daniel Hagari in a press briefing after Hamas announced their decision. “But we’re still operating in Gaza.”
Israel’s war cabinet plans to meet Monday night to talk about Hamas’ proposal.
The White House is also reviewing the proposal.
“We’ll discuss it with Egypt, Qatar, and Israel, the three countries we’ve been working with during negotiations,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a press briefing on Monday. “If the talks haven’t started yet, they will soon.”
The proposal suggests swapping 33 Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli hostage released, along with Israel stopping its military operations in Gaza, according to a senior Arab source familiar with the proposal.
Negotiations over releasing hostages increased over the weekend with help from U.S. CIA Director William Burns, along with mediators from Egypt and Qatar. Burns continued talks on Monday after Hamas agreed to the cease-fire proposal.
The talks happened as Israel threatened to invade Rafah, a city in Gaza’s south if a temporary cease-fire wasn’t agreed upon.
The U.S. warned Israel against invading Rafah, where many civilians are staying.
President Joe Biden talked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 30 minutes on Monday, before Hamas agreed to the cease-fire proposal.
Last week, the U.S. stopped sending weapons to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs, as Israel hinted at a possible ground invasion of Rafah, according to two senior administration officials.
On Monday, Israel told civilians in eastern Rafah to leave, raising fears of an invasion.
“We can’t speak for IDF operations, but we’ve made clear our concerns about actions in Rafah that could put more than a million innocent people at risk,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby at a White House briefing on Monday.
