2024-01-29 13:50:35
An Al Jazeera reporter said a small ministerial committee led by Benjamin Netanyahu will meet today to discuss proposals related to a prisoner exchange deal, while the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) stressed that any detained Both depend on the end of the war in Gaza.
The mini-ministerial council meeting came a day after a four-party meeting in Paris to discuss the features of a new exchange agreement. An Al Jazeera reporter said estimates from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office indicated that the Paris discussions were constructive.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority said earlier that the Paris talks involving Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar ended with progress in talks on a prisoner exchange, citing Israeli political sources who said the summit discussed plans for the phased release of Israeli prisoners.
The sources added that the two sides had discussed a ceasefire for about two months in exchange for the release of about 100 Israeli prisoners, with priority given to children, women and the sick, and that Israel had also released a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
The Hamas movement, on the other hand, said the release of the detainees would be linked to an end to Israel’s aggression in Gaza and the withdrawal of all occupying forces. “The success of the Paris conference depends on the extent of the occupying forces’ response to halt all-out aggression against Gaza,” Sami Abu Zuhri, head of Hamas’s overseas political department, told Reuters.
Israel estimates there are about 136 prisoners in Gaza, while at least 8,800 Palestinians are held in its prisons.
Israel considering prisoner swap proposal, Hamas links any deal to ending war
Offer to Hamas
On Sunday, the 28th, the U.S. Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as saying that it revealed a new proposal made by the mediating country to Hamas, stipulating a four-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of all Israeli prisoners.
The new proposal includes, as a first phase, a six-week cessation of Israeli attacks to release Israeli prisoners in need of emergency medical care, including children, women and the elderly, in exchange for Israel releasing large numbers of Palestinian prisoners and increasing the number of arrivals to the country, the newspaper added. Gaza provides humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, in the second phase, Hamas’s proposal also includes the release of captured female Israeli soldiers, followed by the release of captured soldiers, and the transportation of the bodies of Israelis killed in Gaza to Tel Aviv.
The new proposal also includes Hamas obtaining international guarantees, including from the United States, to reach a comprehensive deal to halt attacks on Gaza once and for all, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that a prisoner exchange agreement may be concluded within the next two weeks.
Through the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, Hamas and Israel reached a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted until December 1 for a week, during which prisoners were exchanged and limited humanitarian aid was provided to the Gaza Strip.
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