Hamas Offers 135-Day Ceasefire Proposal With Israeli Pullout From Gaza

Hamas countered a ceasefire proposal with its own offer, which would include a 135-day halt in fighting, a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and an exchange of all of Hamas’ hostages for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. 

The Details: Israel is reportedly unlikely to accept; government sources told NBC News (Lean Left bias) and CNN (Lean Left bias) Israel would never agree to the proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the issue in a press conference on Wednesday. 

For Context: Diplomats from Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. have worked for weeks on their own ceasefire proposal, which was delivered to Hamas last week. At the time, Qatari mediators said Hamas’ response to that proposal was “generally positive.”

Related: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss possibilities for a ceasefire deal. Blinken reportedly “reaffirmed the United States’ support for Israel’s right to ensure the terrorist attacks of October 7 are never repeated,” emphasized humanitarian aid for Gazans, and touted an independent Palestinian state as “the best way to ensure lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

How the Media Covered It: As with many international stories, coverage was rare in ideological outlets, particularly on the right, but common in large mainstream outlets, most of which AllSides rates as Center or Lean Left. As with other coverage of the war, Fox News (Right bias) and Israeli outlets opted to refer to Hamas as a “terror group”; others like CNN and BBC News (Center bias) called it a “militant group.”