The changes that Hamas have requested to a ceasefire proposal presented by the United States are “not significant” and include the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, a senior leader in the group tells Reuters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Hamas had proposed numerous changes, some unworkable, to the US-backed proposal, but that mediators were determined to close the gaps.

Hamas demands it select a list of 100 Palestinians with long-term sentences to be released from Israeli jails, said the senior Hamas leader.

Hamas objected to the Israeli document’s exclusion of 100 Palestinian prisoners with high sentences, whom Hamas would identify, as well as the restriction on the time period for the release of prisoners with high sentences to no more than 15 years remaining of their sentences, said the Hamas official.

“There are no significant amendments that, according to Hamas leadership, warrant objection,” said the Hamas leader.

Editorial

Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...
31 Jul, 2026

Expanding conflict

WITH neither of the belligerents willing to back down, and the theatre of conflict expanding geographically, the...
31 Jul, 2026

Spoils and spats

A FIGHT over assembly seats in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has laid bare what seem to be some deep resentments between ...
31 Jul, 2026

Unfair tax system

THE disclosure that the FBR collected nearly Rs1.9tr in sales and income taxes through electricity bills over the...