Hamas Says Not Seeing Real Guarantees in New Israeli Ceasefire Proposal

Israeli military operations in Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The Palestinian militant group Hamas said it sees no real guarantees in Israel's new ceasefire proposal in Gaza, according to a statement posted on its Telegram channel.

"We have considered the new ceasefire proposal, which includes demands for Hamas' disarmament and the release of Israeli hostages, but does not provide real guarantees that the war against the Palestinian people will end and Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza," it said, but did not give a clear answer on whether it rejected the proposal, TASS reported on April 16.

On Monday evening, Hamas confirmed that it had received the Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators and was considering the deal.

According to the Al Hadath television channel, Hamas' disarmament was one of the main conditions put forward by the Israeli side.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-affiliated Maan news agency reported on Monday that as part of the revised deal, Israel had proposed to continue the ceasefire in the enclave in exchange for the release of ten hostages, including Israeli-American citizen Edan Alexander.

Under the Israeli initiative, Israel will withdraw its forces from areas in the Gaza Strip captured during the operation launched in mid-March during a 45-day ceasefire.

In addition, Israel will open several checkpoints on the border with Gaza to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave.

If the deal is finally reached, Hamas could release 11 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 16 dead hostages, the news agency said, citing an official from Egypt, which is acting as a mediator.

According to the official, this is very likely to happen "if the ceasefire period is extended to 70 days to allow the situation in the enclave to remain under control until the end of the Eid al-Adha in June.

In addition, extending the ceasefire period would provide time to engage in indirect negotiations on the third phase of the Hamas-Israel agreement on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

It is known that on March 18, Israel resumed attacks on Hamas targets, thus ending the ceasefire that had been in place in the enclave since January 2025.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that the action was a response to Hamas' rejection of a proposal submitted after negotiations with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

The office claims the aim of the operation is to free all Israeli hostages. Hamas itself blames Israel and the United States for the latest escalation in Gaza.