A recent tentative agreement to secure the release of 50 hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza calls for a pause of four to five days, they told CNN two sources familiar with the negotiations.
An agreement has not yet been reached and negotiations have been going on for weeks. However, negotiators from several countries, including senior Biden administration officials, express optimism about the progress of negotiations.
The observation is that some gaps in the main points of contention have started to narrow, sources said, although talks could still fail and a deal could be days away.
“We think we are closer than we have been at any time since these negotiations began weeks ago,” Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. Finer did not elaborate on the details of the negotiations and emphasized that there is no final agreement in place.
In a sign of how tenuous negotiations have been, two sources told CNN that in recent days, Hamas has suspended negotiations at least once. One of the many issues raised by the terrorist group, which appears to have led Hamas to abruptly close negotiations, was Israel’s attack on Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
A key issue yet to be finalized is how to implement the agreement, including around aid shipments to Gaza, a source familiar with the negotiations said on Sunday, following a meeting between Qatar’s prime minister and Brett McGurk, coordinator of the White House for the Middle East. Qatar served as the main interlocutor in the negotiations.
The most recent discussions have proposed the staggered release of civilian hostages, with pauses potentially lengthening after Hamas allows an initial release of a significant number of captured hostages, according to the sources.
Israel has presented a list of approximately 100 civilian hostages it wants to include in the deal, a source told CNN. Israel publicly demanded that all hostages be released. Hamas indicated it would be willing to release 50 hostages during a multi-day pause. More hostages, around 20 to 25, could be released after that as the breaks are prolonged.
Hamas has said it needs pauses in fighting to reunite hostages who are being held in different locations and by different Hamas-allied groups in Gaza.
The National Security Council and the Israeli embassy in the US declined to comment on this claim. The Qatari Embassy in the US did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There are still details to be ironed out about the aid, with Israel expressing concern that the pauses and aid to Palestinian civilians could be used by Hamas fighters.
Hamas initially requested 500 trucks of aid per day, one of the sources said. One source said no agreement had been reached on how many humanitarian aid trucks could enter Gaza, but that more than 200 trucks was a logistical challenge.
There are also questions about how to inspect the trucks and which entry points would be used. Aid, including fuel and cooking oil for bakeries, would continue to arrive after the initial pauses for hostages.
Source: CNN Brasil

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