The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas has accepted the US proposal to start negotiations on the release of Israeli hostages (prisoners of war and civilians) and, in advance, has abandoned the demand that Israel first commit to a long-term ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by Reuters with reference to a senior Hamas commander, UNN reports.
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Currently, we are talking about the first phase of a 6-week ceasefire with the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
A Reuters source in the Israeli negotiating team says that there is now a real chance of reaching an agreement. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that preliminary talks will continue next week, but that differences between the parties still remain.