A senior Hamas official has told the BBC that the Islamist movement will reject the new US proposal for a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.

Ceasefire negotiations, with the ultimate goal of ending a war now entering its 602nd day, have not come to fruition. The White House said Thursday that Israel had approved the plan by U.S. envoy Stiv Whitcoff and that it was awaiting a formal response from Hamas.

According to Israeli media citing Israeli officials, the plan calls for Hamas to release 10 live hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead kidnapped people in two phases in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. If, during the ceasefire period, the two sides reach an agreement to end the war, the remaining hostages held in Gaza will be released. Under the proposed plan, the distribution of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave would be resumed by the United Nations and international relief organizations.

The Hamas official who spoke to the British agency noted that the proposal does not address the organization’s key demands, such as a permanent end to the war, and that a response will be given “in due course.”

The Israeli government has not officially commented, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told hostage families on Thursday that he accepts the Whitcoff plan.

It will be recalled that last night, one of Hamas’ exiled leaders, Bassem Naim, had told Agence France-Presse that the US proposal does not meet the movement’s demands, as it essentially “implies a perpetuation of the occupation, continued killing and starvation”.

“This proposal does not meet any of the demands of our people, especially to end the war and the famine,” Bassem Naim insisted, adding that the Hamas leadership is considering its response.