Hamas denies halting Gaza ceasefire negotiations

CAIRO – 21 March 2025: The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) denied, in a statement, the Israeli media reports claiming that contacts or talks related to the prisoner exchange deal have been stopped.

Hebrew daily "Yedioth Ahronoth" newspaper Hamas halted all talks due to ongoing attacks and the talks are currently frozen.

In its statement, Hamas also confirmed that it is still engaged in negotiations and is following up with the mediators in a responsible and serious manner. It added that the movement is also discussing the US envoy for Middle East SteveWitkoff's proposal and all other suggested ideas to achieve an exchange agreement that ensures the release of prisoners, ends the war, and guarantees the withdrawal from Gaza.

Witkoff's proposal aims at extended the phase one of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, which ended on March 18 when Israeli resumed striking the besieged Gaza. The US proposal is seeking to extend the phase one of the ceasefire for 50 days to end on April 20, Al Arabiya reported. Meanwhile, Hamas would hand over all the remaining Israeli captives [living and dead] on the final day of the temporary truce extension, before a substantive ceasefire takes effect if agreed upon.

However, some Hamas leaders told Arab media outlets that the movement did not reject Witkoff's proposal, but they asked that it leads directly to the second phase of the ceasefire.