Qatari mediators are trying on Wednesday to negotiate a deal between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of around 50 Gaza civilian hostages in exchange for a three-day ceasefire, an informed official told Reuters. about the negotiations.
The deal under discussion, which was coordinated with the US, also calls for Israel to release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said.
It would mark the largest release of hostages held by Hamas since the group stormed across the Gaza border, attacked parts of Israel and took hostages to the enclave.
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Hamas has agreed to the broad outlines of that agreement, but Israel has not agreed and is still negotiating the details, the official said.
It is not known how many Palestinian women and children Israel would release from its prisons as part of the deal under discussion.
The scope of the Qatar-led negotiations has changed significantly in recent weeks.
The fact that talks are now focused on the release of 50 civilian prisoners in exchange for a three-day truce and that Hamas has agreed to the broad outlines of the deal has not previously been reported.
The wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which has ambitious foreign policy goals, has a direct line of communication with Hamas and Israel. Previously, he helped broker truces between the two.
That agreement would require Hamas to hand over a complete list of living civilian hostages still in Gaza.
A more comprehensive release of all hostages is not being discussed at this time, the official said.
There was no immediate response from Israeli authorities, who had previously declined to provide detailed comment on the hostage negotiations, citing a reluctance to undermine diplomacy or fuel reports of what they saw as “psychological warfare” by Palestinian militants.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry and Hamas’ political office in Doha declined to comment.
Qatar, where Hamas maintains a political office, has led mediation between the militant group and Israeli authorities for the release of more than 240 hostages.
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They were taken by Hamas militants when they invaded Israel on October 7. According to Israel, 1,200 people were killed during the riot.
Israel then launched a relentless bombardment of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and, at the end of last month, began an armored invasion of the enclave, where more than 11,000 people were killed, around 40% of them children, and more people were buried under the rubble, according to Palestinian officials.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, who is part of the government’s war cabinet, said at a press conference on Wednesday: “Even if we are forced to stop the fighting to return our hostages, there will be no stop to the fighting and the war until achieve our objectives.”
Asked to explain what is holding up the hostage deal, Gantz declined to elaborate.
Previously, talks had focused on the release of up to 15 hostages by Hamas and a pause of up to three days in fighting in Gaza, according to sources in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from the Qatari Foreign Ministry and Hamas’ political office in Doha.
Two Egyptian security sources said that so far there has only been agreement on limited truces in specific areas of Gaza. They said Israel had shown reluctance to commit to any broader agreement but appeared to have moved closer to doing so on Tuesday.
Source: CNN Brasil
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