Netanyahu adds, however, that the changes that Hamas wanted to make to the mediators' proposal "are unacceptable to Israel".
If the parties now actually enter into negotiations with each other, the first talks in Qatar are expected to be followed by more in-depth discussions on details in Egypt, according to sources for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Friday's "positive" response to the mediators from Hamas means more concretely that the Islamist movement has agreed to the main features of the proposal but has requested minor changes in how the agreement is formulated, according to sources for the Qatari TV channel Al-Araby.
Meets Trump
The proposal is reported, among other things, to involve the release of ten of the hostages who are still alive and the return of the remains of several of those who have died. In exchange, a 60-day ceasefire and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners are offered.
Furthermore, Hamas is to provide full information about the status of all remaining hostages and Israel, in turn, is to inform about Palestinians who have been taken prisoner in Gaza since the outbreak of war in the autumn of 2023, Haaretz writes.
The new signs that talks are underway come ahead of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington on Monday, where he will meet Donald Trump. The American president claimed this week that Israel has already agreed to the "necessary conditions" for a 60-day ceasefire.
"Optimistic”
He says he is optimistic about the prospects for an agreement, but adds that the situation "changes from day to day".
It's good. They haven't informed me about it. We have to get it sorted out. We have to do something about Gaza, Trump replies to a question from a reporter regarding Hamas' message, according to AFP.
The previous ceasefire in Gaza ended abruptly on March 18 when Israel unilaterally broke the agreement. Since then, thousands more people have been killed in Israeli attacks around the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza war began with Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when over 1,200 people were killed and the extremist movement took hostages. Subsequently, Israel has killed over 57,000 Gaza residents, according to the area's health authorities.
