Jerusalem: Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages in the initial phase of a ceasefire-hostage agreement currently undergoing in Doha, the CNN reported, citing Israeli officials.
The mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal on Monday to end the war in Gaza. An official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters that progress was made in Doha after midnight following talks between Israel’s spy chiefs, President-elect Trump’s Middle East envoy and Qatar’s prime minister.
A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, which met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also mentioned that the Gaza ceasefire talks are progressing well.
The deal is likely to be announced in 24 hours as Hamas is keen to end the war, according to Jerusalem Post.
According to Kan News, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has now been finalised. Hamas is set to releases three hostages on the first day of the ceasefire in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from “populated areas.” A week after this, Hamas is set to release an additional four hostages.
The progress in the talks is being attributed to the intervention of US President-elect Donald Trump. “We have to go along with it because the international pressure, or to be more exact – the American pressure – has doubled. It’s two presidents now working on it – it’s Biden and Trump together, putting the pressure … and it looks very effective on our right-wing government,” Alon Liel, the former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tel Aviv.
Trump had threatened to “raise hell in the Middle East” if Gaza hostages are not released before his inauguration.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said there’s a “distinct possibility” that Israel and Hamas will be able to reach a ceasefire deal before President Joe Biden leaves office in a week.
‘NEVER EVER GIVE UP’
In a speech touting his foreign policy legacy, President Joe Biden on Monday said the US was “pressing hard” to close a deal that would see some of the hostages held by Hamas freed in exchange for a period of peace in Gaza. “On the war between Israel and Hamas, we’re on the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition,” Biden said during an address at the State Department
Biden further stated that he had learned during his long career in public service “to never, never, never, ever give up.”
“The Palestinian people deserve peace and the right to determine their own futures. Israel deserves peace and real security. And the hostages and their families deserve to be reunited,” he said, adding that efforts are on to urgently close this deal.
THE LIKELY DEAL
Besides release of 33 hostages, the Phase I of the deal includes withdrawal of IDF, keeping a Gaza security perimeter and release of terrorists with life sentences, excluding October 7 Nukhba fighters. The ceasefire would last 42 days with some presence of IDF in Philadelphi corridor, the Jerusalem post added.
The Israel might release about 150-200 terrorists.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has issued a statement, urging “the media, Knesset members and public opinion leaders to refrain from making statements that could harm negotiations”.
As per the latest report, around 94 hostages are under the hold of Hamas and its allies.
OPPOSITION
Meanwhile, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has publicly urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in opposing the proposed Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas. In his statement on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir described the deal as “terrible” and argued that their opposition is crucial to prevent what he sees as a “surrender” of Israel to Hamas by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Smotrich had previously labeled the ceasefire deal a “catastrophe” for Israel’s national security.
