Hamas and Israeli officials appear open to discussing a week-long ceasefire that could free as many as 40 hostages – including women, the elderly and the sick.
Israel’s three main TV networks laid out the Jewish state’s negotiating goals on Tuesday, revealing that their governments want to see Hamas release certain hostages, including women, the elderly, and those with physical or mental illnesses.
In exchange for the hostages, Israel is allegedly willing to engage in a week-long ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners in its prisons, the Times of Israel reported.
The agreement also aims to expand the humanitarian zone in the Palestinian territories, as well as the amount of aid sent to Gaza.
It is similar to the agreement that saw a week of peace between the warring armies in late November, which ultimately collapsed after Hamas and Israel were unable to agree on an eighth wave of hostage exchanges.
Families of hostages released and still held in Gaza held a rally this week in Tel Aviv urging Israel to do whatever it takes to free its people. Getty Images Hamas released 105 people during a week-long ceasefire in late November. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock
President Biden told reporters on Wednesday that the US is pushing Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that could see more than the estimated 128 hostages released.
“We rejected it. There is no expectation at this point, but we are pressing,” Biden said, describing reports of the Palestinian death toll possibly exceeding 20,000 today as “tragic.”
Reports of the Jewish state’s openness to the deal came as Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed his country was ready for a second pause in fighting – as long as Hamas abides by agreed rules – during a meeting with ambassadors from 80 countries on Tuesday.
A senior Hamas official said no deal would be accepted unless Israel ended the fighting and bombing in Gaza. REUTERS Israel, which has destroyed the terror infrastructure of Hamas, says the fighting will not end until the group is destroyed. AFP via Getty Images
Sources close to Hamas have confirmed an Axios report that the group is open to the deal, with its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, traveling to Egypt on Wednesday.
Hamas said in a statement that Haniyeh would discuss the war with Egyptian officials, but gave no further details.
Egyptian and Qatari negotiators were the ones who brokered the first ceasefire, and have since been trying to restore peace in Gaza after heavy fighting resumed on Dec. 1.
Despite signs of another temporary ceasefire on the horizon, tensions remain high between the two sides, with Hamas signaling that a deal will not take place until Israel leaves Gaza, and the Jewish state reiterating that fighting will not end until the terror group it was destroyed. .
While Israeli officials are working on a cease-fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly dismissed the prospect of permanent peace with Hamas. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“We continue the war until the end. It will continue until Hamas is eliminated — until victory,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement today.
He has repeated the same message since Hamas killed more than 1,200 people in Israel during the brutal October 7 terrorist attacks.
Along with Netanyahu’s comments, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera that his group would not hand over any hostages until it was assured that the war would end.
“Israel will take the hostage card and after that they will start a new round of genocide and genocide against our people,” he said. “We’re not going to play this game.”
The Jewish state believes there are still 128 hostages in Gaza, not all of them alive, following a week-long ceasefire agreement that resulted in the release of 105 captives.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
