Hamas says it responded positively to Trump’s ceasefire proposal already supported by Israel

Hamas leadership said on Friday that the group “submitted a positive response” to the United States’ proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, paving the way for a negotiated end to the conflict. 

The group “submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” they said in a statement, according to CNN. 

Earlier this week, Israel agreed in principle to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza put forward by President Trump ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington next week. 

The framework, now accepted by both Hamas and Israel, sets the stage for more comprehensive negotiations to secure a ceasefire that would see the release of some of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and an end to the fighting. 

Hamas previously rejected several ceasefires proposed by Israel and other mediators as recently as May.

Fighting has raged in Gaza since Israel’s invasion—a response to the brutal, cross-border terrorist attack by Hamas that left about 1,200 people dead, including more than 40 American citizens, on October 7, 2023. 

Efforts to secure a ceasefire ramped up following Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran aimed at dismantling the country’s clandestine nuclear program.