Hamas will not hold hostage handover ceremonies during Gaza ceasefire: Report

Hamas will not hold hostage handover ceremonies like it did in January during a temporary ceasefire that drew condemnation from the international community, as it considers a new truce proposal mediated by the US.

According to a report by New York Times, the Palestinian terror group has said that it will not televise or hold the handover “ceremonies” like last time, where hostages were made to deliver speeches thanking their captors.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel has accepted a ceasefire proposal and urged Hamas to do the same and end hostilities in Gaza that have killed scores of people in the nearly two-year-long war.

‘Eager to resume talks’

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said that the country is eager to resume negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire agreement “as soon as possible”.

“There are some positive signs. But our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible,” Saar told reporters, referring to the details of the ceasefire that still need to be agreed upon through diplomacy.

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At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas. “We will free all our hostages, and we will eliminate Hamas. It will be no more,” he said.

Hamas said in a statement that it was studying the latest proposals and aiming “to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israeli forces from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip”.

What would the truce entail?

A Palestinian source familiar with the mediated negotiations told AFP that “there are no fundamental changes in the new proposal” under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the United States.

The source said that the new proposal “includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees”.

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Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.

With inputs from agencies