Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli captives, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the war on Gaza, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday. The Palestinian group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase. The source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace effort…