GAZA CITY: Hamas indicated on Wednesday that it was ready to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during the next phase of the ongoing ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing phase one of the fragile truce, which has held since taking effect on January 19 despite accusations of violations on both sides.
Israel’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that talks would begin “this week” on the second phase, which is expected to lay out a more permanent end to the war.
“We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages as in the current first phase,” senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said as quoted by AFP.
He did not clarify how many hostages were currently being held by Hamas or other Palestinian groups.
Nunu said this step was meant “to confirm our seriousness and complete readiness to move forward in resolving this issue, as well as to continue steps towards cementing the ceasefire and achieving a sustainable truce”.
Gaza ceasefire deal
Under the ceasefire’s first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps.
Wednesday’s offer came after Israel and Hamas announced a deal for the return of all six remaining living hostages eligible for release under phase one in a single swap this weekend.
A senior Hamas leader, Khalil al-Hayya, said the group will free six living Israeli hostages on Saturday and return the bodies of four others on Thursday in trade for Israel’s allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip.
Hamas last week threatened to hold up releases, citing the refusal to allow in mobile homes and heavy equipment among other alleged violations of the truce.
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The six are the last living hostages set to be freed during the ceasefire’s first phase in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
After the completion of the first phase, 58 hostages will remain in Gaza.
Hamas wants to halt Gaza war
Muhammad Shehada, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that after more than a year of devastating Israeli assault in Gaza, “Hamas wants to prevent the war resuming at any cost”, albeit with some “red lines”.
“And one of those red lines is that they should continue to exist, basically, whereas (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s position is that they should dismantle themselves,” he said.
Since Israel launched the war on Gaza, Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas’s capacity to fight or govern, something Hamas has rejected.
But the appearance that Washington is now in complete alignment with Netanyahu’s government, as displayed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit this week, strengthened the Israeli premier’s hand in negotiations, according to Michael Horowitz, an expert at the risk management consultancy Le Beck International.
It gives Netanyahu “more room to pressure Hamas”, Horowitz said, adding that US President Donald Trump “prefers that the agreement moves forward, but he’s leaving the field open to Netanyahu… as long as the ceasefire is maintained”.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign on Gaza killing more than 48,297 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.
Rebuilding Gaza could cost $53.2 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by the World Bank, the UN and the European Union. The report identified almost $30 billion in damage from the Israeli war, nearly half reflecting the destruction of homes.
Palestinians reject Trump’s Gaza displacement plan
The ceasefire that began in mid-January paused Israeli bombardment that has killed more than 48,297 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
But Israel’s government still says it wants to eliminate Hamas as a military and governing force in Gaza. And US President Donald Trump’s proposal to permanently remove Gaza’s 2 million residents, though rejected by the Arab world and the Palestinians, has stirred even more uncertainty.
Egypt is working on a counter-plan to rebuild without moving Palestinians.
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Israel has embraced the plan, and it and the Trump administration have emphasised they share the same goals in the war.
Fears Israel will resume war
The deal’s first phase calls for Hamas to gradually release 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are believed to be dead. So far, 19 living Israeli hostages have been released in the current phase, in addition to five Thais.
If this week’s releases go as planned, four bodies will remain and are set to be returned next week.
The ceasefire’s current phase runs until the beginning of March, and there are fears that Israel will resume bombardment. Talks on the second phase were to start early this month.
