Hamas is ready to accept the release of 3 thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported this, citing Egyptian sources.
However - according to the same sources - Hamas still demands the release of prisoners in Israel sentenced to long sentences and that the discussion of a permanent ceasefire begins at the beginning of a 6-week truce.
In this case - if negotiations continue - the release of all hostages will continue.
CIA Director Bill Burns will travel to Paris tomorrow for talks with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials to discuss a hostage deal.
Two sources told Axios that Burns will participate in the talks, with the United States aiming for a deal before Ramadan, which begins in less than three weeks.
The critical point - writes Axios - is the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released and how the list will be determined.
The same source confirms that a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo yesterday for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials on the possible hostage deal.
'IDF prepares continuation of intense ground actions'
"We will expand the authority given to our hostage negotiators. At the same time the army is preparing the continuation of intensive ground operations."
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this in his meeting with White House envoy Brett McGurk.
'48 dead in Israeli raids'
Israeli attacks killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza tonight, half of them women and children.
This was stated by health officials in the Strip quoted by the AP on its website.
Seven Israeli strikes hit Rafah this morning, one of which leveled a mosque and devastated much of the surrounding block, AP writes.
Another attack hit a house in Rafah housing the al-Shaer family, killing at least four people, including a mother and her son.
According to local hospital officials, overnight attacks in central Gaza killed 44 people, including 14 children and 8 women.
A missile launched from the Red Sea towards Eilat, in southern Israel, was intercepted, according to local media, by Israeli air defenses after warning sirens sounded in the city.
''Our fighters - reported the military spokesperson - have successfully intercepted a target coming from the Red Sea in our direction using the Iron Dome system.
That target - continued the spokesperson - did not penetrate Israeli airspace and did not represent a danger to the population''.
This is the second such attack in the last month, military radio said.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, has meanwhile announced a new Palestinian death toll: 29,410 since the start of Israel's offensive.
Israeli raid on a UNRWA building in Jabalia
Al Jazeera reports victims following an Israeli bombing that hit a UNRWA building that houses displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
According to what the broadcaster writes, an Israeli raid targeted a Palestinian vehicle east of the camp.
The footage of the accident, verified by Al Jazeera, highlights the death of at least one person and the injury of many others.
“An Israeli reconnaissance plane bombed the car and we found dead and wounded on the street,” a witness said.
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