Gaza mediators search for 'final formula' for Israel, Hamas truce

US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators prepared a diplomatic push to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire plan for Gaza after the Palestinian group responded to a proposal for an extended pause in fighting and hostage releases.

Hamas on Tuesday replied to a framework drawn up more than a week ago by US and Israeli spy chiefs at a meeting in Paris with the Egyptians and Qataris.

Details of the response were not disclosed. In a statement, Hamas said on Tuesday it responded: "in a positive spirit, ensuring a comprehensive and complete ceasefire, ending the aggression against our people, ensuring relief, shelter, and reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and achieving a prisoner swap."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a lightning tour of the Middle East, said he would discuss the Hamas response with Israeli officials when he visits the country on Wednesday.

In Doha, Blinken said, "There's still a lot of work to do ... but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible, and indeed essential."

Qatar described the Hamas response as "positive" overall, while Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Hamas showed flexibility.

"We will discuss all the details of the proposed framework with the concerned parties to reach an agreement on the final formula as soon as possible," Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service, was quoted as saying.

Sources close to the talks have said the truce would last at least 40 days, during which the militants would free civilians among the remaining hostages they hold.

Further phases would follow to hand over soldiers and dead bodies of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. 

The truce would also increase the flow of food and other aid to Gaza's desperate civilians facing hunger and dire shortages of basic supplies.

US President Joe Biden said the Hamas response showed "some movement" toward a deal. But it was unclear if either Hamas or Israel were willing to soften their stated hardline positions to reach a truce agreement.

A Hamas official who asked not to be identified reiterated to Reuters earlier on Tuesday that the Palestinian Islamist movement would not allow any hostage releases without guarantees that the war would end and Israeli forces would leave Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israel will not end its Gaza campaign until Hamas is wiped out and has ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia has told the US its position stands that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem and Israeli "aggression" in Gaza stops, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia put US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice, sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking told Reuters in Oct 2023, as the war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israeli forces escalated.

Reuters