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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Hamas says open to 5-year Gaza truce, hostages release

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Cairo - Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official said Saturday ahead of talks with mediators.


A Hamas delegation was in Cairo to discuss with Egyptian mediators ways out of the 18-month war, as on the ground rescuers said an Israeli strike on a family home in Gaza City killed at least 10 people and left more feared buried under the rubble.


The Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said it "is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years".


The latest bid to seal a ceasefire follows an Israeli proposal which Hamas had rejected earlier this month as "partial", calling instead for a "comprehensive" agreement to halt the war.


The Israeli offer included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.


Hamas has consistently demanded that a truce deal must lead to an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a surge in humanitarian aid into the besieged territory -- where on Friday the United Nations warned food stocks were running out.


Qatar, the United States, and Egypt brokered one truc,e which began on January 19 and enabled a surge in aid, alongside exchanges of hostages and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.


But it collapsed amid disagreements over the terms of the ceasefire's next stage.


After blocking aid during the impasse in negotiations, Israel resumed bombarding Gaza on March 18, followed by a ground offensive.


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