Gaza ceasefire hopes rise as Israel says it will resume negotiations

Optimism about talks comes after Hamas makes revised proposal on terms of a deal

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Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza were gathering momentum on July 5 after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal and Israel said it would resume stalled negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden on July 4 that he would send a delegation to resume negotiations, and an Israeli official said Israel’s team would be led by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency.

A source on Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement.

The Israeli remarks were in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were not acceptable.

A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts said the latest proposal by the militant Islamist group could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel.

He said that Hamas was no longer demanding as a pre-condition an Israeli commitment to permanently cease fire before the signing of an agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout a first six-week phase.

“Should the sides need more time to seal an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, the two sides should agree there would be no return to the fighting until they do that,” said the official, who asked not to be named.