(VOVWORLD) - Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza conflict, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.
 Illustrative image (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A source in Israel's negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old conflict in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.