Khalil Al-Hayya, the Deputy Chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said that the recent ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian Mediators -which Hamas have just agreed to- includes three stages.

“The proposal entails a complete [Israeli] withdrawal from Gaza, the return of the displaced Palestinians, and a prisoner exchange process,” Al-Hayya said to Al-Jazeera.

If the ceasefire proposal is implemented, the prisoner exchange will be executed in three stages, Al-Hayya stated, adding that an announcement of a complete and permanent cessation of hostilities will take place in the second phase.

Mediators have told Hamas that US President Joe Biden is committed to ensuring the agreement's implementation - according to the senior Hamas official, who led the Hamas Delegation in Cairo on Sunday where the negotiations took place.

There will be no restrictions placed whatsoever on the return of the displaced Gazans back to their homes, and the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) will withdraw to areas adjacent to the borders inside the Gaza Strip in the first stage of the proposal.

Hamas has not been informed of a specific date for the Israeli Occupation’s approval of the proposed plan, and the movement is currently awaiting its response - according to Al-Hayya.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has reiterated its calls for evacuation in Rafah, only a short while after Hamas announced agreeing to the ceasefire proposal.

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