VOA News | Tuesday, May 7, 2024 
Israel says Hamas has changed the terms of a ceasefire deal

Jerusalem — Israel is sending a delegation back to Cairo for more talks on the details of a cease-fire. The Israeli move came a day after Hamas made a surprise announcement that it accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal that Israel had previously accepted. But on Tuesday, Israeli officials said that the terms Hamas accepted are not the same as those in the original Egyptian proposal, and that the changes that Hamas is demanding make it impossible for Israel to agree. Israeli officials said the first stage of the deal envisions the release of 33 “humanitarian” hostages, meaning women, the elderly and the sick, in exchange for a six-week cease-fire and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But now Hamas says that some of those 33 who would be freed have died. There are also questions on the timing of the release and how many Palestinian prisoners will be freed for each hostage. Brigadier General Yisrael Ziv, a former commander of the Gaza district, said that Israel’s first priority must be to bring the hostages home. “The first priority is to maximize the option for the deal,” Ziv said. “We understand that the time is running out for the life of the hostages and the maximum pressure is about that – how many people alive we can evacuate through such a deal.” – Read more