{"id":396874,"date":"2025-09-04T09:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T09:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396874\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T09:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T09:22:14","slug":"mediator-says-final-us-proposal-calls-for-release-of-all-hostages-and-end-to-gaza-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396874\/","title":{"rendered":"Mediator says final US proposal calls for release of all hostages and end to Gaza war"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Palestinian-American political activist who has been mediating between the Trump administration and the Hamas terror group said Wednesday that the final ceasefire proposal on the table is a comprehensive US deal to end the Israel-Hamas war and free all the hostages held in Gaza.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Saudi news outlet al-Arabiya, Bishara Bahbah said, \u201cThere was a meeting in Washington that, according to what I know, lasted six hours, and it was decided that there would be one final proposal on the table: the release of all the [hostages] and an end to the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bahbah is not an official member of the US negotiating team, but has been serving as a liaison between the Trump administration and Hamas.<\/p>\n

Hours earlier, the terror group declared<\/a> that it was open to a comprehensive deal, a statement that was immediately dismissed by Israel as spin.<\/p>\n

Speaking to al-Arabiya, Bahbah said that he had \u201ccontacted Hamas about the matter [of a comprehensive deal], and they were skeptical \u2014 they didn\u2019t know if it was something official.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But he said that after officials in the terror group saw US President Donald Trump\u2019s social media post<\/a> calling for an end to the war, they \u201cwere convinced it was official, and immediately responded that they agree to this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bishara Bahbah gives an interview on Al Ghad TV on June 24, 2025. (Screenshot\/ Facebook)<\/p>\n

The Hamas statement on Wednesday said that it was willing \u201cto enter into a comprehensive deal in which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance will be freed in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation.\u201d The terror group refers to the hostages it holds as prisoners.<\/p>\n

It also said that it was ready to form \u201can independent national administration of technocrats\u201d to run Gaza.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s Office has said said the war can end immediately if five conditions are met \u2014 the release of all hostages; the disarmament of Hamas; the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control in Gaza; and \u201cthe establishment of an alternative civilian administration that does not indoctrinate for terror, does not dispatch terror, and does not threaten Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hamas statement came after Trump posted on his Truth Social network on Wednesday: \u201cTell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!\u201d<\/p>\n

The US president appeared to be referring to the number of hostages believed by Israel to still be alive. Officially, only 26 of the 48 hostages being held in Gaza have been declared dead by Israel, but authorities have expressed grave concern about two others. The families of slain hostages have expressed fears over the possibility of a deal that would leave their loved ones\u2019 remains inside Gaza.<\/p>\n

Bahbah said that Trump is seeking to heavily pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting such a deal and ending the war \u2014 a message he passed on to Hamas.<\/p>\n

The mediator said that the war \u201ccould be ended in two weeks\u201d if both sides are serious about the talks, and said there were more \u201cpositive signs\u201d than ever before about the potential for a deal.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A displaced Palestinian woman bathes her daughter at the Bureij camp for displaced Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip on September 3, 2025. (Eyad BABA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

However, Israel appeared to dismiss<\/a> Hamas\u2019s announcement on Wednesday night, as the Israel Defense Forces continued to advance its plan to conquer Gaza City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is more spin by Hamas, containing nothing new,\u201d Netanyahu\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

In a similar message, Defense Minister Israel Katz called on Hamas to either accept Israel\u2019s conditions to end the war \u2014 including the release of all hostages and disarmament \u2014 or see Gaza City \u201cbecome like Rafah and Beit Hanoun,\u201d accusing the terror group of continuing to \u201cdeceive and utter empty words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to Netanyahu and Katz, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that while the government \u201cdoes not have to accept Hamas\u2019s conditions, it must immediately return to negotiations and try to close a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t not even try to return our hostages home,\u201d demanded Lapid.<\/p>\n


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