Hamas drops key demands on cease-fire deal: Reports

Hamas has dropped key demands that had blocked a cease-fire deal with Israel in Gaza, according to media reports.

The militant organization would accept a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, many of who have been held captive by the group since it attacked Israel in October, according to the reports.

Hamas has also dropped its insistence that any deal contains the guarantee of a permanent ceasefire from the Israeli government, according to Reuters, the Associated Press and Bloomberg, which all cited anonymous Hamas or Egyptian officials for the information.

The reports may mark a significant shift in the talks, which have stalled despite U.S. efforts to push brokers Egypt and Qatar to draw concessions from Hamas.

U.S. President Joe Biden personally intervened in recent days, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to push the U.S. plan for a multi-phase cease-fire deal that would see hostages released, fighting ended and reconstruction begun.

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told AFP on Friday that the organization expected to hear from the Israelis “today or tomorrow. If the response is positive, we will discuss the proposals in detail.”

But Netanyahu’s office cautioned that talks were ongoing. “It should be emphasized that there are still gaps between the sides,” it said in a statement to Bloomberg.