Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged the right-wing religious government on Tuesday to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war and release the remaining hostages. According to the Israeli news site Ynet, affiliated with Yedioth Ahronoth, Lapid said a senior representative from one of the mediating countries informed him that Israel has not yet responded to the latest proposal. The proposal, according to Lapid, includes 98% of what the US special envoy Steve Witkoff conveyed. The plan involves a 60-day ceasefire during which initially 10 living hostages would be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners. Israel accepted the original proposal presented by Witkoff in the spring, but Hamas rejected it at the time, insisting on a full war cessation agreement. However, Hamas has given a “positive” response to the new proposal for over a week. Israel now indicates it is not interested in a partial agreement.

Lapid stated that the agreement could be concluded based on the latest mediators’ proposal. The former prime minister added: “Our hostages are slowly dying in tunnels, from hunger and suffocation, while the Israeli government has ‘more important things’ to do.”