Hamas changed the language in the cease-fire deal it accepted Monday to count the bodies of dead hostages in a proposed swap for Palestinian prisoners, according to a shocking report.
The deal signed by Hamas also included an end to the war in Gaza — something the Israeli side said it would not accept.
But one of the biggest changes reportedly came in the language around the 33 Israeli hostages who were set to be released in exchange for a cease-fire.
While the original deal called for 33 living hostages, Hamas changed the wording to include 33 hostages “alive or bodies,” officials told public broadcaster KAN TV.
Israeli officials have blasted the proposal as significantly different from what Israel had initially said it would agree to.
Hamas has repeatedly warned that it does not have enough hostages who meet Israel’s demands, which called for the release of hostages who are women, elderly or those suffering from illnesses and medical conditions.
The Hamas deal also contained wording that called for an end to the nearly seven-month long war, which goes against Israel’s hardened stance, a senior American official told CNN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly said that the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated, vowed to reject Hamas’ offer.
Despite Netanyahu’s plans, his office said Israel is still sending a negotiation team to Cairo “to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel.”
The deal called for an initial 42-day truce period to free the hostages, for the IDF to partially withdraw its troops from Gaza, and to allow the more than 1 million refugees in Rafah to return to central and northern Gaza.
Follow along with The Post’s coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas
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The next phase had called for another six-week truce in order to establish peace in the Palestinian enclave and for the negotiations and hostage exchange to continue.
The final phase of the Hamas deal would see the last hostage exchanges come to a close and for a reconstruction of Gaza to begin through a plan overseen by Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations.
Hamas also called on a total end to the blockade around the Gaza Strip that has been in place since the terror group became governors of the land in 2007.
While he acknowledged that there were “significant gaps” between Hamas and Israel, Israel war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Israel was still working “to turn over every stone” to secure the hostages.
While the deal contains non-starters for Israel, US and UN officials have called on the Jewish State and Hamas to stay at the negotiation tables and hammer out a real deal to avoid more bloodshed in Gaza.
Following Israel’s rejection of the Hamas deal, the IDF began its advancement into Rafah despite US opposition.
President Biden has repeatedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to go ahead with the Rafah offensive unless the IDF could secure the safety of the civilians, with the president repeating himself during a call earlier Monday.
With Post wires.
