Under a cemetery: a terror tunnel and living quarters of senior Hamas officials/IDF spokesman
A senior Hamas official told the AP news agency this evening (Friday) that the organization will respond "very soon" to a proposal for a deal to release hostages in exchange for a prolonged ceasefire and the release of terrorists from prison in Israel.
Earlier it was learned that the leaders of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad Ziad Nachala spoke on the phone today, and said that the examination of the new proposal for a cease-fire is based on the principle that any negotiation must lead to a complete end to the war and the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.
Also, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said today in Lebanon that the proposed hostage deal cannot be accepted by the organization as it is. According to him, any deal must include a permanent ceasefire. He also said that the organization demands the release of thousands of terrorists, including those sentenced to life imprisonment, including Marwan Barghouti.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh/Reuters
Yesterday, the spokesperson of the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that in Qatar they received an initial positive answer from Hamas regarding the outline of the deal for the release of the abductees.
The three-phase outline was presented to Hamas earlier this week at a summit in Paris.
According to the outline, in the first phase of the deal, 35-40 Israeli abductees will be released, including women, men over the age of 60 and abductees in serious medical condition.
This, in exchange for a six-week lull in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
A senior Israeli official said that so far Israel has not received an update from Qatar regarding Hamas' response to the proposal.
Afterwards, a senior official from the ranks of the Palestinian factions also expressed doubts, telling the al-Mayadeen channel: "There are no more agreements, and Hamas has important reservations."
According to him, Qatar's statement was hasty and incorrect.
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The Qatari Foreign Ministry: "There is an initial positive answer from Hamas on the outline for the release of the abductees"
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Demonstration for the release of the kidnapped, February 1, 2024/Official website, Roni Shapira
The second phase of the deal will include the release of men - soldiers and civilians under the age of 60. In the third phase, bodies of abductees held by Hamas will be transferred.
In each of the stages, a different "key" will be determined for the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each Israeli abductee.
So far, only the first phase has been presented to Hamas in detail.
The remaining phases were presented to Hamas in general, with the intention of conducting separate negotiations on them during the sixth week of the ceasefire. The duration of the ceasefire in the second and third phases has not yet been defined and will be determined in the negotiations, but senior Israeli officials estimated that it would be long weeks of a ceasefire.
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