Israel and the Hamas terror group were said Sunday to be considering proposals for a hostage-ceasefire deal that would see the release of about half the living captives held by the Palestinian terror group — some 10 people — in exchange for a truce lasting about two months and the release of Palestinian security prisoners, according to several reports whose specifics varied.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri denied one such report, and reiterated his group’s stance that it is prepared to release all the hostages in one phase, on the condition that Israel agrees to end the war with international guarantees.

CNN earlier reported, citing an unnamed Hamas official, that the group had agreed to release nine hostages amid a two-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli military withdrawing to the enclave’s outskirts, alongside the release of 300 Palestinian security prisoners.

Abu Zuhri called this report false, and said Israel was trying to “confuse the public” with false reports in order to pressure the terror group.

Axios reported Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has presented — and is pressuring the sides to accept — a proposal for the release of 10 hostages in exchange for a 45-60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of security inmates.

According to the report, which cited an Israeli official and a source with direct knowledge of the proposal, the new offer includes modified language aimed at providing Hamas with guarantees that the temporary ceasefire could lead to a permanent one.

The negotiations were taking place against the backdrop of a major new Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which Israeli officials have presented as more aggressive than previous operations, declaring intentions to conquer and retain the territory, to relocate Palestinian civilians, and to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid to prevent it from reaching Hamas.

The entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza was stopped in March, but Israel announced Sunday it would immediately begin allowing “a basic quantity of food” into the enclave, “at the recommendation of the IDF,” a decision that reportedly came under US pressure and went against repeated statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

Israeli and Hamas delegations have spent several days in Qatar’s capital Doha, as has Witkoff.

Axios reported, however, that the negotiations, in practice, were bypassing the Gulf state, with an Israeli official calling the talks in Doha a “facade.”

“This is not where the real negotiations are taking place at the moment. If Hamas and Israel agree to the principles of the Witkoff proposal, the negotiations will move to Doha to discuss the details,” the official said.

According to the report, Witkoff was speaking directly to Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. The prime minister “has given a positive response, but with many conditions and reservations,” it said.

The report said the US envoy was also still speaking with Hamas’s leadership in Doha via a backchannel — whose existence was revealed by The Times of Israel — facilitated by Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah, who was crucial in securing the release last week of hostage soldier and US-Israeli dual-citizen Edan Alexander.

According to Axios, Hamas is disappointed that Washington has not taken a more favorable tack in the negotiations following Alexander’s release.

The terror group was also frustrated by a series of Israeli strikes last week targeting Muhammad Sinwar, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, alongside other commanders, Axios said. A report claimed Sunday that Sinwar’s body had been found in a Khan Younis tunnel.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 on Sunday night reported that Israel itself had presented a proposal offering an extended ceasefire under which half of the remaining living hostages would be released in exchange for more than 100 terrorists serving life sentences.

Under the deal, Hamas would also return half of the deceased hostages, in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees arrested following the October 7, 2023, massacre, the report said.

The reports came as the Israel Defense Forces launched a major new offensive, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” in Gaza.

According to Israeli officials, the wide operation aims to see the IDF conquer Gaza and retain the territory, attack Hamas, prevent the terror group from taking control of humanitarian aid supplies, and move Palestinians from Gaza’s north to its south.

Netanyahu, in a video statement Sunday, said: “We’ve launched a massive campaign against Hamas…IDF forces are pushing powerfully into the Gaza Strip with a dual objective: the defeat of Hamas and the release of our hostages — two goals that are intertwined, and we will achieve both.”

Visiting Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that the military would press forward with the offensive, but at the same time allow flexibility in order not to torpedo the hostage talks, saying: “A hostage deal — this is not a halt; it is an achievement.”

IDF spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, in a press statement from the Gaza border, said five divisions are now operating inside the Strip, but also stressed that the IDF is doing “everything” to prevent harm to the hostages, saying the captives are “always top of mind.”

“We are moving forward, and the only thing that can stop us is the return of our hostages,” Defrin said.

Earlier Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel’s negotiation team in Qatar was exhausting “every possibility” for a deal to free the hostages, including a framework that would consider an end to the war through a comprehensive release of all hostages in Gaza and the complete surrender and exile of Hamas.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Strip, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Terror groups in the enclave are still holding 58 hostages, including 57 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.