Hamas proposed a four-and-a-half month truce Tuesday to free the remaining hostages in Gaza and pave the way for an end to the war, but two Israeli officials have said the demands are nonstarters.

The terrorist group laid out their proposal in response to the latest cease-fire deal brokered by US, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators – which had been touted as the best chance to temporarily halt the fighting in Gaza. 

Refusing to budge from their stance, Hamas’ latest offer calls on Israel to end the war and exit the Palestinian enclave before the terror group agrees to release the more than 130 hostages remaining in Gaza. 

Hamas proposed three phases to the deal, each lasting 45 days. The first phase would see all Israeli women and men under 19, as well as the elderly and sick, released. 

The hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails, similar to the short-lived truce back in November. 

The second phase will only begin once Israel and Hamas mutually agree to end the fighting in Gaza, with Hamas freeing all the remaining male hostages as long as Israel withdraws its army. 

The final phase would see the bodies and remains of dead hostages released. Israeli officials believe that Hamas has the bodies of at least 32 hostages who died either during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack or while in captivity. 

Unconfirmed intelligence suggests that at least 20 more may also be dead, sources told the New York Times.  

Sources close to the negotiations said that Hamas also wanted guarantees for negotiators that the cease-fire deal will be upheld and not collapse as soon as the hostages are freed. 

“They want the aggression to stop and not temporarily, not where (the Israelis) take the hostages and then the Palestinian people live in a grinder,” one source told Reuters. 

Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, confirmed the offer has been passed from mediators to Israeli and US officials.

“We were keen to deal with it in a positive spirit to stop the aggression against our Palestinian people and secure a complete and lasting cease-fire as well as provide relief, aid, shelter and reconstruction,” he told Reuters.

As Israeli officials discuss the Hamas proposal, some have gone on the record as claiming that the terror group’s demands are nonstarters. 

One official told Israel’s Channel 13 that the details in the proposal were not acceptable to Israel, with another telling CNN that there was “no way” the Jewish State would agree to such a deal. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Israel overnight, has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the proposal and how Israel should respond. 

“We will be working as hard as we possibly can to try to get an agreement so that we can move forward with — not only a renewed but an expanded agreement on hostages — and all the benefits that would bring with it,” Blinken said late Tuesday after being briefed on Hamas’ terms by Qatari and Egyptian negotiators.

The secretary of state has since been meeting with Netanyahu to press the prime minister to prioritize the release of the hostages and increase the aid being delivered to Gazan refugees, according to the State Department. 

Despite Blinken’s optimism that a cease-fire deal would still be salvageable, Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he would not accept conditions for a permanent truce with Hamas, nor would he release thousands of prisoners in exchange for the hostages. 

The Israeli prime minister has made it clear that a military victory and destruction of Hamas would be the only way to end the war. 

Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a press conference later on Wednesday, where he is likely to give Israel’s response to Hamas’ proposal. 

With Post wires