On Friday, Hamas leadership announced that they are studying a cease-fire proposal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza, and prisoner swaps of Israelis and Palestinians.
Still, there are some key provisions they appear to be ruling out. Senior Hamas official in Beirut Osama Hamdan said they're committed to the proposal's basic tenets for a permanent cease-fire.
Hamas wants the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the recent conflict, including some who are serving life sentences. In particular, popular Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti.
These requests by Hamas put the group at odds with others who've fielded a multi-stage proposal, such as the one presented by representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the United States. Also, the aforementioned country's proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire.
The insistence on large-scale prisoner releases and an end to the fighting in Gaza put the group at odds with the multi-stage proposal that officials from Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and the United States put forth this week.
The proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire. Israeli leaders have said on numerous occasions that they wish to continue fighting until Hamas is dismantled, even while agreeing to long pauses in fighting that would accompany the release of hostages.
Hamas, along with smaller militant groups operating in the region, captured 250 hostages in their attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Dozens of hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
What Has The Human Cost Been?
More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 wounded since the beginning of the war, according to the Health Ministry.
Hamdan further stated that Hamas is looking for the release of Palestinian prisoners from groups that have historically been rivals to the group, including Ahmeed Saadat of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-a small PLO group.
The prisoner release is a "national cause, not only for Hamas," he said. Barghouti and Saadat were convicted of involvement in hostilities during the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, against Israel's occupation that lasted from 2000 to 2006.
Hamas is also seeking a withdrawal of Israeli troops, the removal of a buffer zone that has been set up on the Gaza side of the border with Israel, and the increase of aid trucks being allowed into the territory to 300 per day rather than the current number of a few dozen.
