News From Gaza: Israel Gives Hamas 1 Week Agree To Ceasefire Agreement

The crowd marched towards the Erez Crossing near the border with the northern Gaza Strip in Israel, Friday (26/4/2024). (ANTARA PHOTO/Xinhua/JINI/Tomer Neuberg/pras.)

JAKARTA - Israel has reportedly given Hamas one week to agree to a ceasefire agreement or it will continue military operations in Rafah.

The statement was made by Israel amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, according to a report on Friday, May 3.

Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials delivered Israeli messages to Hamas on Thursday, May 2.

The officials said that Egypt was working with Israel in a revised ceasefire proposal and submitted to Hamas last weekend, but military leader Hamas Yahya Sinwar has not responded, according to the report.

Meanwhile, delegates from the Palestinian Hamas group are expected to visit Cairo on Saturday to discuss ceasefire efforts, according to Egyptian media on Friday (3/5).

CIA Director William Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday (3/5) to meet with Egyptian officials and discuss talks about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Egyptian government-run Al-Qahera news channel quoted a senior Egyptian official as saying Egypt would receive a delegation from Hamas on Saturday to discuss a ceasefire proposal.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday confirmed at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia that there were new proposals for a ceasefire in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said that Hamas had a "extraordinary, extremely generous proposal on the Israeli side."

They have to make a decision and they have to make a decision quickly. I hope they will make the right decision," Blinken said.

Hamas is estimated to have held more than 130 Israelis hostage, while Tel Aviv has detained more than 9,100 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The previous agreement in November 2023 included the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children.

The proposal recently reportedly suggested a six-week ceasefire, in which Hamas would release 33 hostages, including women's soldiers, the elderly, and injured prisoners, in exchange for the release of large numbers of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Hamas demanded an end to Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region for a hostage exchange deal.