By Jonathan Landay, Maya Jebaili, Andrew Mills, and Nidal Mughrabi

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/DOHA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is considering a three-stage plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would secure the release of most Israeli hostages but not require Israel to end its war with Hamas, sources familiar with the matter said.

The success of the plan depends on whether or not Hamas agrees to the first stage without agreeing to a permanent end to the war, which is a core demand of Hamas so far. The plan was prepared by the heads of the intelligence agencies of the United States, Israel, Egypt and the prime minister of Qatar.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Monday that they do not know Hamas's response and cannot predict it.

Hamas told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday that the proposal would include three stages, including the release of hostages held by the movement and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The statement confirmed some details of a framework provided to Reuters by two sources familiar with the proposal.

(Prepared by Muhammad Aysam for the Arabic edition - Edited by Ayman Saad Muslim)