BBC: Qatar and Egypt have proposed a 5-7-year ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

Qatari and Egyptian mediators have proposed a new formula for ending the war in Gaza. It includes, among other things, a ceasefire lasting five to seven years.

A senior Palestinian official told BBC News anonymously.

The proposal also includes the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, a formal end to the war, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

A Palestinian official said Hamas terrorists are ready to hand over control of the Gaza Strip to any Palestinian organization agreed upon “at the national and regional levels”. He said this could be either the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, or a newly established administrative body.

At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously opposed the Palestinian Authorityʼs participation in the future administration of the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007.

The source added that it was too early to assess how successful the proposed plan would be, but Qatar and Egypt, he said, had made "serious mediation efforts," and Hamas had shown "unprecedented flexibility".

According to BBC News, a Hamas delegation is set to arrive in Cairo for consultations.

Israelʼs war in the Gaza Strip

Active hostilities between Israel and Hamas have continued since October 7, 2023, when militants of the Islamist group launched a massive rocket attack on southern and central Israel, invaded the countryʼs territory, killed hundreds of civilians, and took hostages.

In mid-January 2025, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. In the first phase of the agreement, Hamas pledged to release 33 Israeli hostages, while Israel pledged to release more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and begin withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip. On March 2, Israel agreed to temporarily extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a transitional period after the end of the first phase, as the parties have not yet been able to agree on how to proceed.

On the night of March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in the Gaza Strip after a two-month ceasefire. The strikes killed the de facto prime minister of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Issam Daalis and four other senior Hamas officials. IDF officials do not rule out that the bombings will be followed by a new ground operation.

Israel has placed responsibility for the resumption of hostilities on Hamas — the militants allegedly rejected all proposals to extend the ceasefire. Therefore, any further negotiations with Hamas, if they are held at all, will only be "under fire" — that is, Israel refuses a ceasefire as a condition for starting new negotiations.

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