There are new developments regarding the ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. It was claimed that there will be a 6-week “phased” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where the gunfire has not stopped for 142 days. Egyptian media announced that ceasefire negotiations resumed in Doha. On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “We are all working on a hostage deal. I cannot say whether we will reach an agreement or not.” Finally, the White House said, “Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have agreed on the basic outlines of a hostage agreement for a temporary ceasefire.”
There has been a succession of statements on the ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip negotiated by mediators.
The Arabic-language, London-based Shark al-Awsat, citing Palestinian sources, reported that according to the agreement drafted between the parties in Paris, the ceasefire will be in effect for 6 weeks in the first phase.
In the first phase of the ceasefire, some 35 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip will be released and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be released.
The parties will renegotiate the second and third phases of the agreement, including “lists of prisoners for mutual release, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from northern Gaza, the return of Palestinians there, and a definitive end to the war.”
Israeli state television KAN reported that the Israeli army was “ready for a pause in hostilities” and would use this time “to reinforce forces on the ground, to resupply, and to prepare for attacks on the north and south of Gaza.”
Israel’s Channel 12 television reported that ceasefire negotiations could lead to an agreement in Cairo or Doha in the coming days and come into effect during Ramadan.
In addition, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahranot reported that the Tel Aviv war cabinet approved the negotiating principles for a hostage swap deal with Hamas.
If Hamas accepts these principles, Israel is expected to send a delegation to Qatar to resume talks.
NETANYAHU: WE ARE WORKING ON AN AGREEMENT
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also made a statement regarding the developments. Speaking to the US-based CBS channel, Netanyahu said, “We are all working on a hostage deal. I cannot say whether we will reach an agreement or not.”
Hamas must “come to a reasonable position,” Netanyahu said,
He added that he would meet with his staff to review a dual military plan that would include “the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from Gaza” and “an operation to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions.”
The Israeli prime minister said, “If we get an agreement, it will be delayed, but it will happen. If there is no deal, we will do it anyway.”
USA: AGREEMENT REACHED ON BASIC LINES
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Israel, Egypt, Qatar, Egypt, Qatar and the United States have agreed on the basic outlines of a hostage agreement for a temporary ceasefire. Sullivan said that the agreement is still in the negotiation phase and that Qatar and Egypt will need to hold indirect talks with Hamas.
Sullivan also added that: “We do not believe that the Rafah operation should continue unless there is a plan to protect civilians.”
HAMAS’ RESERVATIONS
On the other hand, Hamas Political Bureau member Ghazi Hamid told al-Ghad TV that Israel wants to “turn the ceasefire agreement into a prisoner swap agreement” and is trying to empty it of its contents.
Pointing out that contrary to what the Israeli media reported, the negotiations “did not take place in a positive atmosphere”, Hamid noted that Hamas’ “stubbornness in Tel Aviv’s rejection of Hamas’ demand for an end to the attacks on Gaza and the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, if necessary, made the talks difficult”.
Tahir al-Nunu, the press advisor to Hamas’ Political Bureau Head Ismail Heniyya, told Egypt’s al-Watan newspaper that the Tel Aviv administration’s statement that Hamas “made concessions on its demands” does not reflect the truth.
Accusing Israel of preventing an agreement from being reached, en-Nunu stressed that Hamas “is committed to the conditions for an agreement: the end of the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, the lifting of the blockade and the reconstruction of Gaza.”
29,606 PALESTINIANS KILLED
Since October 7, 29,606 Palestinians, including at least 12,660 children and 8,570 women, have been killed and 69,737 people have been injured in Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.
While thousands of dead are still reported under the rubble, civilian infrastructure is also being destroyed by targeting hospitals and educational institutions where people seek refuge.
On November 24, 2023, 81 Israelis and 240 Palestinian prisoners were mutually released during the “humanitarian pause” in hostilities, which was granted for 4 days on November 24, 2023 and then extended for another 3 days. However, Israel continued to detain and imprison thousands of Palestinians.
