- Hamas offered Israel 50 hostages for a 5-day ceasefire in Gaza, according to The New York Times.
- Israel rejected the deal, demanding a shorter timeframe to collect and deliver the hostages.
Hamas proposed exchanging 50 Israeli hostages for a five-day cease-fire in Gaza, but Israel rejected the offer, according to The New York Times.
Citing Arab and Western officials with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Times said that the negotiations took place in the days leading up to the ground invasion of Gaza.
The invasion took place on the evening of October 27.
The incursion had been delayed briefly to allow time for negotiators to try to reach a deal, two officials told the Times.
According to The Guardian, which cited three sources familiar with the talks, the originally proposed deal for a five-day cease-fire primarily involved the freeing of children, women, the elderly, and sick people.
Hamas said it needed a five-day pause in Israel's bombardment to gather the hostages, the Times reported. Roughly 240 hostages were taken prisoner during the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, which killed some 1,400 people.
But Israel insisted on a much shorter timeframe, demanding that the militant group that rules Gaza gather the hostages in just hours, according to the Times.
It also wanted Hamas to provide a detailed list of the hostages who would be released, the newspaper reported.
Hamas found the request too challenging amid an ongoing bombing campaign, which ultimately led to the collapse of a deal, two officials told the outlet.
Israel then moved forward with its campaign, with officials believing that Hamas would eventually bow to military pressure, the newspaper reported.
According to the Guardian, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the deal outright and has maintained a tough stance on cease-fire-for-hostage proposals.
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Israel's retaliatory strikes, now in their second month, have killed more than 10,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Netanyahu, who is facing mounting pressure in Israel to free the hostages, said last week that the offensive in Gaza will continue with "full force" until all hostages are released.
Hamas released four hostages through Qatari mediation, and Israel Defense Forces was able to free another. NPR reported that Hamas is seeking, in negotiation talks, for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.