On Wednesday, May 28, the Palestinian political and resistance movement Hamas announced its acceptance of a new ceasefire deal presented by President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Though Israel had rejected an earlier version of the deal just two days prior, Witkoff expressed hope on Wednesday that the updated “terms sheet” would be acceptable to all the parties. Reports in Israeli media on Thursday, May 29, indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the Witkoff deal the green light.
“I have a very good feeling about getting to a temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution to that conflict,” Witkoff reportedly stated after meeting Trump in the Oval office on Wednesday. According to a report in Axios, the deal is nearly finalized and could be announced soon.
“If each side moves just a bit, we could have a deal within days,” Axios quoted an unknown US official saying.
Witkoff has reportedly been negotiating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top advisor for the past two weeks. He has been joined by US businessman Bishara Bahbah, who has led parallel talks with Hamas representatives in Doha.
Hamas had already agreed to an earlier draft of the deal on Monday. That version proposed a 60-day temporary ceasefire, during which a permanent deal would be negotiated. In exchange, 10 live hostages would be released: five on the first day of the ceasefire and five on the last.
Israel rejected the proposal and accused Hamas of misinterpreting its terms. This forced Witkoff and Bahbah to initiate another round of talks on Tuesday, in an attempt to rescue the agreement.
The complexity of the current negotiations also stems from the collapse of the previous ceasefire. That agreement, imposed on January 19 after 15 months of war and the killing of thousands of Palestinians, was deliberately broken by Israel on March 18. Israel falsely accused Hamas of failing to release more hostages and used the excuse to launch fresh ground and air strikes, killing more than 400 people in a single day.
The Israeli violations of the ceasefire in March were fully backed by the Trump regime.
Israel’s response uncertain as war in Gaza reaches 600-day mark
More than 600 days into Israel’s war on Gaza, Israel’s daily assaults continue unabated. The massacres of Palestinians occur daily despite talks of a ceasefire and public demonstrations across the world demanding an end to the genocide.
At least 37 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombings in different parts of Gaza on Thursday.
On Wednesday, a letter signed by over 400 authors and human rights groups including Elif Shafak, William Dalrymple, and others was published denouncing Israel’s genocide in Gaza and demanding an immediate ceasefire.
So far, over 61,700 Palestinians have been killed and over 123,000 wounded in Israeli attacks. Israel’s genocidal violence has completely displaced all of the pre-war Palestinian population of Gaza and caused large-scale hunger and starvation for millions due to repeated and prolonged Israeli blockades on the flow of humanitarian aid and the destruction of vital infrastructure.
In Wednesday’s statement, Hamas reiterated “the agreement would establish a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza strip, the flow of humanitarian aid, and the formation of a professional committee to manage the affairs of the strip upon the announcement of the agreement,” IRNA reported.
It also claimed that, apart from the release of 10 live hostages, the deal will also include the release of the remains of several deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The deal will be guaranteed by the US, Egypt, and Qatar.
While a cautious optimism has emerged across the world in response to a reported Netanyahu acceptance of the deal, uncertainty remains.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post and video on X early on May 29, “Israel must publicly and immediately accept the outline published this morning by American mediator Steve Witkoff.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly evaded calls for a ceasefire and falsely blamed Hamas for sabotaging any peace deals.
