Tel Aviv, 15 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The militant Palestinian Hamas movement has presented "reasonable" demands during negotiations aiming to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in a positive step forward, Israeli national broadcaster Kan reported citing an unnamed person familiar with the content of the proposal.

According to the report, an agreement could be reached soon.

Hamas on Thursday evening said on Telegram that it has presented a comprehensive proposal in the negotiations. The group said that it envisaged an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, aid deliveries for the population and the release of those kidnapped from Israel in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas was still making "unrealistic demands." The group continues to insist on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, which Israel rejects.

Netanyahu's office had previously said that Qatar was exerting pressure on Hamas and that this was beginning to have an effect. Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been negotiating a ceasefire in the Gaza war for weeks.

According to Netanyahu's office, Doha is said to have threatened to expel members of the Palestinian organization from Qatar and to stop giving them money if they do not cooperate in the negotiations. The information could not initially be independently verified.

As part of the hoped-for agreement, the Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attacks still being held in the Gaza Strip would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel in several phases. However, the negotiations have made slow progress.

According to Israeli media, hundreds of people in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv once again demanded the release of the hostages on Thursday evening. They also temporarily blocked a motorway in the city.

MIA file photo