The Hamas has responded to US special envoy Steve Whitcoff‘s proposal for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, but is setting its own conditions without responding positively or negatively to the proposal.

In an initial reaction, an Israeli official told reporters anonymously that the Netanyahu government is treating Hamas’ response “essentially as a rejection.”

However, despite Hamas’s announcement, a source involved in the process told the Times of Israel that mediators are still working to soften some of the amendments it has requested. He also said that Hamas’ response includes a request that makes it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the 60-day truce.

According to the Egyptian Al-Rad network, it demands that the return of hostages be done in five stages, instead of two in the first week.

It involves 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners.

Sources with knowledge of the matter, as reported by the Times of Israel, say Hamas wants to release four live hostages on the first day of the 60-day truce, two each on the 10th and 30th days and on the last day of the agreement will release four more hostages.

Hamas is also offering to return bodies of hostages on the 30th and 50th days of the proposed ceasefire.

Furthermore, Hamas proposes in its proposal a permanent ceasefire, a total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and an assurance of the flow of aid to the Palestinians.

Sources told the Times of Israel that Hamas planned to accept the proposal with reservations aimed mainly at preventing Israel from resuming the war after the temporary truce proposed by Whitcoff.

Although the plan proposed by the US has not been made public, Reuters reports that its main points are as follows:

– A 60-day ceasefire

– Release of 28 Israeli hostages, living and dead, in the first week and another 30 once a permanent ceasefire takes effect

– Release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians

– Sending humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other organisations

Meanwhile, Israel’s government warned Hamas on Friday that it would either accept the US proposalfor a ceasefire and release of hostages or be “wiped out”, even as US President Donald Trump assured that a ceasefire is “very close.”

However, as early as Friday, Hamas was already saying that Israel’s response to the US proposal did not meet any of the Palestinian “just and legitimate demands,” as the organization’s official Bassem Naim told Reuters. Naim’s comments followed statements by an unnamed Hamas official who said the organization would reject the U.S. proposal as it does not meet basic demands.