White House: Israel agrees to ceasefire proposal, while Hamas is said to be unsure

Israel accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by U.S. negotiators, but Hamas is said to still be considering the proposal.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire proposal.

The Associated Press reported the deal includes a 60-day cessation of fighting. Hamas would be required to release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies, while Israel would agree to release over 1,000 prisoners. Hundreds of trucks of food and aid would also be permitted to enter Gaza.

Wednesday marked 600 days since Hamas militants attacked Israel on what was the “deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Jews were celebrating the holiday Sukkot; many soldiers were on leave, spending time with their family on the Jewish holy day. Hamas’ attack took Israel by surprise, and as many as 1,200 died and hundreds were taken hostage.

As Israel responded to the attack, the war began in earnest. In the past year and half, tens of thousands of Palestinians have died, and even more have been displaced by the fighting.

Five hundred more Israelis have also died, mostly in combat. Hamas still holds 58 hostages, but only around 20 are believed to be alive.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas officials have struggled to agree to ceasefire terms, as the United States and Middle Eastern countries continue to try to negotiate an agreement.

Netanyahu has vowed that the war will not end until Hamas is defeated, Israeli hostages are back on home soil and that “Gaza does not present a threat to Israel,” reports The Times of Israel. For its part, Hamas says it will not stop fighting or return hostages until Israel withdraws completely from Gaza and Palestinians receive autonomy.

Israel’s conditions are inching towards completion more quickly than Hamas’ are. On Wednesday, Netanyahu confirmed that Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief, was killed in an Israeli strike on a Gazan hospital, per Reuters.

Hamas has not corroborated Israel’s report.

“In the last two days we have been in a dramatic turn toward a complete defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu told the press.

Timeline of the Israel-Hamas war

Here’s an abridged timeline of the war to its current point.

• Oct. 7, 2023: Hamas fighters entered Israel by land, air and sea, launching attacks on multiple villages, killing children, their parents and the elderly. Hundreds of concert-goers at the Nova Music Festival were also killed. By the end of the attacks, 1,200 people were killed, including Israeli soldiers, and hundreds more taken hostage.
• Oct. 28, 2023: Israel, led by Netanyahu, launched a full-scale ground assault on Gaza.
• Nov. 24, 2023: Qatari negotiators established a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Prisoners were exchanged for the next several days even as both sides continued to intermittently engage in attacks on one another. After a week, the ceasefire formally ended.
• Oct. 17, 2024: Israel and Hamas confirmed the death of one of Hamas’s major leaders, Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar is the elder brother of Mohammad Sinwar, whose death Netanyahu just reported.
• Jan. 19, 2025: Another ceasefire agreement went into effect between Hamas and Israel. This plan, developed by the United States, was expected to last for multiple phases and end in the cessation of the war. Both sides alleged numerous violations. The war resumed in earnest several weeks later.
• April 2, 2025: The Associated Press reported that thousands of Palestinians were marching in protest against Hamas. Such a display is rare — Hamas has successfully repressed and intimidated many of its detractors. Along with the protests came rumors that Hamas was running out of money to pay its senior officials.
• May 28, 2025: Israel confirmed the death of Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’s senior military chief in Gaza.