"No response" from Hamas side to hostage release proposal

Palestinians check the damage of houses destroyed in the latest Israeli strikes on Khan Yunis. Pics/AP

Qatar acted too soon in announcing that Hamas gave initial approval to a ceasefire proposal, said a Palestinian source, the Times of Israel reported, citing a Lebanese news outlet, Al-Mayadeen. The statement "was rushed and is incorrect," the source told Al-Mayadeen, claiming that Hamas' leadership has not scheduled meetings in Cairo to discuss the deal with Egyptian mediators.

According to The Times of Israel, the source cited in Al-Mayadeen claims that the positive signals are a plot by the Israeli media to trigger public expectations about the budding deal. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari earlier said that a proposed deal "has been approved by the Israeli side, and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas's side."

Remarks made at Johns Hopkins University in Washington briefly sparked jubilant reactions in Gaza, marked by celebratory gunfire and a temporary decline in crude oil prices, Times of Israel reported. Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, said that the Palestinian group has not yet provided an official response to the proposed deal following the four-way meeting in Paris.

"When things are ready and we submit our response to the deal, it would be natural to let that be known," he told Al Jazeera, adding, "But until this moment, there has been no response from our side to the proposal, and so there is no agreement." Hamdan also said that part of the Israeli government's plan is to leak news over the past few weeks to calm down the pressures from the opposition, and it seems like "he reached a point where the leaks are not helping, so he's spreading practical disinformation." When inquired about the provisions of the deal, Hamdan replied, "The proposal is being studied, so I won't comment on that," Al Jazeera reported.

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