After two weeks of waiting, Hamas has put a price on the delivery to Israel of the 136 hostages remaining in Gaza, 31 of them already dead.
According to a draft of his counterproposal consulted by the Reuters agency, he wants 135 days of ceasefire during which he would release the hostages in a phased manner in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Strip , the entry of more humanitarian aid, the beginning of the reconstruction of the territory and the indirect negotiation of the definitive end of the war.
It is the document that Hamas delivered this Tuesday to the mediators and that the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will discuss this Wednesday with the Israeli leaders during his visit to the area.
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The Lebanese newspaper
Al Ajbar
provides details that appear in an annex and transcend the situation in the Strip.
The Islamist movement wants the truce to be guaranteed not only by the current mediators (Qatar, Egypt and the United States), but also by two countries closest to the Palestinians: Turkey and Russia.
Furthermore, it proposes the return of the Jerusalem Mosque Esplanade to the situation prior to 2003, when Ariel Sharon's Government once again allowed - without the green light from the foundation dependent on Jordan that manages the place - the entry of non-Muslims. , which ultra-nationalist Jewish groups are now taking advantage of.
The pact would be implemented in three 45-day phases.
In the first, Hamas would hand over women, men under 19 and over 50, and the sick, in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children in a ratio that would be set later.
The Israeli army, which is now operating intensively in Khan Younis, Gaza's second city, would have to withdraw from urban areas.
Then it would be the turn of the male hostages.
Israeli troops would have to leave all parts of Gaza.
This second phase would not begin until the parties agreed through mediators on “the necessary requirements” to end the war definitively.
Finally, Hamas would hand over the at least 31 corpses it has in its hands.
Some were brought in dead by their militiamen during the October 7 attack, aware that Israel has paid a price in the past to bring them back.
Others, in a number impossible to determine, would have lost their lives in the Israeli bombings themselves or in other ways.
1,500 Palestinian prisoners
The group also estimates in its proposal the number of Palestinian prisoners it hopes to free in exchange during this process: 1,500.
It is not possible to know what part of the total they are, because Israel does not provide official figures, but human rights NGOs and prisoners put them between 9,000 and 10,000, after the wave of arrests in Gaza and the West Bank following October 7.
Hamas wants to choose a third of the names of those serving life sentences.
According to the Lebanese newspaper, the Islamist movement demands that Gazans have freedom of movement between the different parts of Gaza during the ceasefire and that the sick and wounded be able to leave through the Rafah crossing to be treated in Egypt.
Also the construction of temporary houses and large camps for displaced people with tents, at a rate of 50,000 per week;
that Israel commits to resuming the supply of electricity and water (as required by international law), and that, among those released, there are also Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.
The proposal was conveyed the day before to Blinken, who was in Doha (Qatar), who meets this Wednesday in Jerusalem with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and will hold a press conference later in the day in Tel Aviv.
US President Joe Biden described it last night as “a little excessive” and Blinken admitted that “there is a lot of work to do,” although he was optimistic.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called it “positive,” without going into details.
Mossad, Israel's secret service abroad, which participates in the indirect negotiations, evaluates the document "carefully," according to the prime minister's office.
Israel has not yet responded formally, although an official source cited by the newspaper
Maariv
has been less optimistic than the mediators: "Hamas has given its answer and it is 'no."
Netanyahu has clearly rejected ending the war in exchange for the return of the hostages, considering that it would mean fulfilling only one of the three objectives of the war that he launched after the massive attack by Hamas on October 7, which left more than 27,000 dead. (mostly women and minors), created a humanitarian crisis and left entire areas in rubble.
The other two objectives are to “destroy Hamas,” both politically (it has ruled Gaza since 2007) and militarily, and “to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat again.”
For days, he has frequently repeated two ideas: “We will not withdraw the army and we will not free thousands of terrorists […] None of this will happen.
What will happen?
Absolute victory! ”He stated on January 30.
In the exchange carried out in the last week of November, 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners were released.
The issue puts the stability of the Israeli government at risk at a time when calls for early elections are increasing.
38% of the population wants them to be held “when the war is over” and 33% directly in three months, the legal minimum to organize them if they were called today, according to the latest
Voice of Israel Index
, the survey released this Tuesday. by the Israeli Institute for Democracy think tank.
Netanyahu's far-right allies threaten to leave the Executive if the exchange goes ahead under the terms under which it is being studied.
On the contrary, the opposition is pressuring Netanyahu to bet on him.
Those who joined the concentration government created expressly for the war do it from within.
And, from the outside, the previous prime minister, Yair Lapid, who offers Netanyahu day in and day out a “security net” without conditions to carry out the exchange, either by entering the coalition to compensate for the departure of the extreme right, or with their votes in Parliament.
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