Israel – Hamas war, 15 civilians killed in raids in the center of the Gaza Strip. LIVE

According to two Israeli officials and a source familiar with the proposal, Hamas on Sunday presented Israel, through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, with a proposal for a new hostage deal: Jerusalem rejected the proposal, but one of the Israeli officials said the offer shows that Hamas is ready to engage in negotiations for a new hostage deal, even as fighting in Gaza continues. The Axios website writes that the plan envisaged a three-phase process. Each phase was supposed to include a pause in fighting for more than a month in exchange for the release of the hostages, one of the Israeli officials said. Under the proposal, Israel would begin withdrawing its forces from Gaza during the implementation of the first phase of the deal, which would include the release of around 40 hostages, the official said. Some Palestinian prisoners should also probably be released. The proposal would end the war after the implementation of the last phase of the agreement, which would include the release of soldiers held hostage in Gaza, according to the official. Israel’s war cabinet discussed the new Hamas proposal and told Qatari and Egyptian mediators on Monday that it found it unacceptable, the Israeli official said. “The proposal we received from Hamas was totally out of place and we asked the mediators to try to produce something more acceptable. They are working on it and let’s see what will happen,” the official said, “We are in the pre-start of talks. Negotiations are no longer blocked, but they are still not making significant progress.”