GAZA STRIP: Hamas has put forth a new proposal for a six-week ceasefire and a prisoner exchange involving several dozen Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, said an official from Hamas on Friday.
“The agreement is for a six-week ceasefire and a prisoner exchange,” the official said after weeks of so far fruitless mediation efforts, adding that the group would want this to lead to “a complete (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a permanent ceasefire.”
The Hamas would release approximately 42 hostages taken during the October 7 attack that triggered the conflict in Gaza.
A Hamas source in late February said that the official had proposed an approximately 10-to-one ratio for the release of Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails, but now indicated that between 20 and 50 detainees would be released for each hostage.
The official stated that women, kids, old people, and sick captives could be included in the first exchange under the revised arrangement.
About 250 Israeli and foreign hostages were taken by Hamas during the October 7 raid; following a week-long truce in November, many of the captives were freed. Israel estimates that roughly 130 prisoners, 32 of whom are presumed to be dead, are still in Gaza.
The most recent proposal seems to represent a change in strategy for Hamas, whose armed wing declared earlier this month that it would “never compromise” on its demand that Israel leave Gaza before releasing any further hostages.
For a lasting ceasefire, Hamas insists on Israel’s complete military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a comprehensive exchange of hostages for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners. The implementation and oversight of this agreement would involve Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.
Israel has so far refused to withdraw from Gaza, saying such a move would amount to victory for Hamas.
Since October 7, at least 31,490 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli ground, air and sea offensive, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated late on Thursday that although Hamas “is continuing to hold unrealistic demands,” an update on the cease-fire negotiations would be tabled to Israel’s military cabinet on Friday.
