Hamas says it accepts cease-fire proposal from Egyptian, Qatari mediators, as U.S. and Israel review details of plan

• Hamas said it told Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that it has approved a cease-fire proposal to halt the war in Gaza, according to a press statement.
• Israel did not confirm whether it would accept or reject the deal that Hamas approved.
• Negotiations, which have been ongoing for months, intensified over the weekend, with facilitation from U.S. CIA Director William Burns, alongside mediators from Egypt and Qatar.

Hamas said it told Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that it has approved a cease-fire proposal to halt the war in Gaza.

Israel is examining the proposal that Hamas approved and hasnot confirmed whether it would accept or reject it, an Israeli official told NBC News.

"We are exploring every single thing that we hear and we are exhausting the potential about negotiations and bringing back the hostages and that is our main mission to bring them home as quickly as possible," Israel Defense Forces Officer Daniel Hagari said at a press briefing following Hamas' announcement. "But in parallel, we are continuing to act in an operational manner, in the Gaza Strip and we will continue to do so."

Israel's war cabinet is planning to convene Monday night to discuss Hamas' proposal.

The White House also said it is reviewing the proposal.

"Of course, we will be discussing it with Egypt with Qatar with Israel, the three countries with whom we have been working throughout this negotiation process," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing Monday afternoon. "Obviously if those conversations have not already started they will be ongoing in the next several hours."

The proposal would require a swap of 33 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli hostage released, along with a permanent halt to Israel's