Hamas has presented a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. According to a Reuters report, the deal includes the release of Israeli women, children, and the elderly in return for the exchange of 700-1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Among the women released would include Israeli “female recruits.”
According to the Jerusalem Post Qatar had sent an official letter from Hamas to Israel. Israel’s war cabinet are meeting on Friday to discuss the proposal.
The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has however, stated that the new Hamas position is based on “unrealistic demands.”
Hamas had also said in its letter that the date for the permanent ceasefire could be scheduled after the exchange. This is a climbdown from its earlier position in January that a permanent ceasefire must be put in place immediately for a hostage exchange to take place.
Once this has been done, the proposal said that the second stage would involve the release of all the remaining hostages
Israel had agreed in talks being held in Paris brokered by Qatar in February, that it would release 400 Palestinians in exchange for 40 hostages. It also agreed to a six-week ceasefire which had then been rejected by Hamas.
Pressure has been on both Israel and Hamas to declare a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Monday. At the time Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry had stated on Tuesday that although an agreement was still a long way off, Doha remained optimistic.
“We are not near a Gaza ceasefire deal but remain hopeful.”
This was not the first time that bids for a ceasefire had been made. In November last year, Israel had agreed to a four-day truce in exchange for the release of 50 women and children as hostages. However, negotiations broke down after Hamas claimed responsibility for the terror attack which killed four Israelis in eastern Jerusalem. Israel responded with air bombings.
According to official figures from Israeli authorities in the Oct 7 attacks, Hamas killed over 1,200 people and abducted over 240 civilians and soldiers. A WSJ report quotes Israeli authorities who claim that over 130 hostages remain in Gaza and around 30-50 of them may already be dead.
US intelligence had warned that Israel might face armed resistance from Hamas for years.
