Palestinian group Hamas claims a recent ceasefire proposal passed to them by United States special envoy Steve Witkoff is different from one they had agreed to a week earlier.
Basem Naim, a leading Hamas official, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the group “responded positively” to the latest proposal relayed by Witkoff, even though it offered “no guarantees to end the war”, according to Naim.
Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023, and its total aid blockade since March has caused starvation and a famine-like situation in Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, most of whom were displaced by 19 months of relentless bombardment.
Amid international pressure, Israel has allowed a trickle of aid into Gaza, which has been described as a “drop in an ocean” by humanitarian groups.
Here’s what you need to know about the ceasefire proposal.
Did Hamas reject the ceasefire proposal?
According to the group, no.
It says it responded positively but added a few key provisions.
What are the key points in Hamas’s proposal?
There are a few.
Hamas has responded to the latest US-proposed ceasefire with demands for a pathway to a permanent ceasefire, instead of a temporary one where the Israeli government could unilaterally restart hostilities as they did in March.
They have also called for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the resumption of aid and assistance to the besieged area.
What are the key differences in this proposal and the one Witkoff relayed to Hamas?
Witkoff proposed a 60-day pause in hostilities. After that, the parties (Israel and Hamas) would work to agree to extend the pause.
The issue with this is that the last time it happened, Israel unilaterally decided to cut aid to Gaza and started bombing it. To avoid a similar scenario, Hamas has tried to negotiate on the timeline for releasing the captives, 10 of them alive and 18 bodies of those killed during the war. Witkoff’s proposal called for the release to take place within a week of the 60-day pause.
However, Hamas fears Israel will resume its bombing campaign upon the release of the captives, so it has called for staggering their release throughout the pause.
It has called for a set list of negotiation topics to avoid what has happened in past negotiations with Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added provisions in what critics say was an attempt to derail talks and prolong the war.
According to the website Drop Site News, Hamas also reinserted a provision from the May 25 agreement that Israel had withdrawn.
That provision would be for Hamas to hand over the governing of Gaza to “an independent technocratic committee”.
What is the US reaction to Hamas’s additions?
Witkoff called Hamas’s response “totally unacceptable” and said it “only takes us backward”.
“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have at the proximity talks substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire.”
I received the Hamas response to the United States’ proposal. It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward.
Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.
That is the only…
— Office of the Special Envoy to the Middle East (@SE_MiddleEast) May 31, 2025
US President Donald Trump previously said the two sides were nearing a deal.
What is Israel saying?
The US and Israel seem to be in agreement on the terms.
Israel claims its officials agreed with the US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Israel “backed and supported” the new proposal.
Netanyahu criticised the Hamas response, parroting Witkoff and laying the blame on the Palestinian group for failing to accept the proposal.
“As Witkoff said, Hamas’s response is unacceptable and sets the situation back. Israel will continue its action for the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
If the US and Israel agree, why is Hamas holding out?
Hamas is wary of past instances where Israel chose to unilaterally break the ceasefire. That happened in March, when Netanyahu decided to block all aid from entering Gaza and restart the war.
Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, described the negotiations between Hamas and Israel as taking place with “no good faith whatsoever”.
“They [Israel] are fixated on one key goal, which is Hamas’s capitulation and surrender, and disappearing from the scene,” Qarmout told Al Jazeera.
“Hamas is engaged in these negotiations just to try to reduce the horrors of the war, to allow some humanitarian aid to enter and to also look for a dignified exit. No one in Hamas wants to see themselves surrendering this way.”
What happens now?
In the interim, Israel is continuing to attack Gaza.
On Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who had gathered at aid distribution sites run by a US-backed group, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in southern and central Gaza. At least 31 people were killed in Rafah and another near the Netzarim Corridor.
Meanwhile, residential homes across Gaza are still being bombed relentlessly.
The post Why Hamas is seeking to change the US-proposed Gaza ceasefire deal appeared first on Al Jazeera.
