Hamasleaders said Friday they were closely reviewing a ceasefire deal proposed by the Trump administration that Washington says had already receivedIsrael's stamp of approval, a spokesperson for the militant group said. "Hamas leadership is currently undertaking a thorough and responsible review of the new proposal,"Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told NBC News on Friday. President Donald Trumptold reporters at the Oval Office Friday that the deal was "very close," after the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Israel had "signed off" on the proposal before it was sent to Hamas. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to an outline of the proposal that Hamas shared with NBC News, the deal would include a 60-day pause in fighting marked by the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned and detained by Israel. The agreement would see Hamas release 33 hostages, with Palestinian prisoners and detainees released at a ratio of 30 per captive, around 600 trucks of aid per day allowed into the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians in Gaza allowed to return to their homes in all areas of the enclave. Under the outline shared by Hamas, the initial phases of the deal would be precursors to an eventual permanent cessation of hostilities once all its terms are implemented. NBC News was not able to independently confirm the framework of the deal, which would bring about the first cessation in hostilities since Israeli airstrikes shattered the last truce in March. Naim said Hamas had received an official response from the Israeli side to the proposal, but said it failed to "to meet any of the just and legitimate demands of our people," including an immediate cessation of hostilities. But he said Hamas was still considering the ceasefire proposal. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave, which has been run by Hamas since 2007. Meanwhile, aid groups have warned of a dire humanitarian situation in the enclave due to Israel's offensive and 11-week-long blockade that barred the entry of food and medicine before it was lifted last week. PresidentDonald Trumpon Wednesday acknowledged the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling it a "nasty situation," adding that "Oct. 7 was a very nasty day, the worst that I think I've ever seen." He told reporters the U.S. was getting food to Palestinian civilians, with a new system for aid distribution launched over the past week, led by the U.S. and Israel-backedGaza Humanitarian Foundation. GHF began operations this week days after Israel lifted its blockade, despitecriticismfrom humanitarian groups who warned that its operations undermined a long-running humanitarian framework in Gaza and risked compromising the independence of aid operations. They also expressed significant concern over aplan laid out by Netanyahuto see aid distributed at sites in southern Gaza, effectively forcibly displacing Palestinians there. In an update Friday, however, GHF said it planned to build additional sites across Gaza, including in the northern region, "in the weeks ahead." The organization said it had so far distributed more than 2.1 million meals to Palestinians in the span of four days.
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