GAZA CITY: Israel was considering its response on Saturday after Hamas said it was ready to start talks "immediately" on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.
The security cabinet was expected to meet after the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown to discuss Israel's next steps, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to head to Washington for talks on Monday with US President Donald Trump.
Trump has been making a renewed push to end nearly 21 months of war in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said 35 people were killed in Israeli military operations on Saturday.
"No decision has been made yet on that issue", an Israeli government official said when asked about Hamas's positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal.
Hamas made its announcement late on Friday after holding consultations with other Palestinian factions.
"The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place" the US-backed truce proposal, the group said in a statement.
Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions said that the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.
Hamas ally said it supported ceasefire talks, but demanded guarantees that Israel "will not resume its aggression" once hostages held in Gaza are freed.
Trump, when asked about Hamas's response aboard Air Force One, said: "That's good. They haven't briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza". The war in Gaza began with Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive in the territory that aimed to destroy Hamas and bring home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants.
Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel's rejection of Hamas's demand for guarantees that any new ceasefire will be lasting.
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations.
A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.
The group said two of its US staff were wounded in an "attack" on one of its aid centres in southern Gaza on Saturday. SEE ALSO P6
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