(Cairo) A senior Hamas leader said on Monday that the Palestinian movement was ready to release all Israeli hostages in particular in exchange for guarantees that Israel will end the war in the Gaza Strip.
Posted at 6:08 a.m.
A delegation of Hamas is currently in Cairo for discussions with officials of Egypt and Qatar who, with the United States, leads a mediation for a truce in the Palestinian territory.
“We are ready to release all [otages] Israelis as part of a real prisoner exchange agreement, and in exchange for the cessation of the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid, “Taher Al-Nanou, a leader of the Islamist movement, told AFP.
However, he accused Israel of hindering progress to a ceasefire.
“The problem does not lie in the number” of hostages to be released, he said, “but rather in the fact that[Israël] Return to his commitments, blocks the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continues the war. ”
“This is why Hamas insisted on the need for guarantees in order to force [Israël] to respect the agreement, ”he added.
According to the Israeli information site YNET, a new proposal was submitted to Hamas, which would provide for the release of 10 living hostages in exchange for American guarantees that Israel will begin negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire.
A first phase of the truce, between January 19 and March 17, had allowed the return of 33 hostages, including eight dead, in exchange for the liberation by Israel of around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.
Efforts to restore the ceasefire has hitherto struck disagreements on the number of hostages that Hamas should release.
-Taher Al-Nenou also said that Hamas would not disarm, one of the conditions set by Israel to end the war.
“The weapons of the resistance are not subject to negotiation,” he said.
The war in Gaza was launched by the unprecedented attack perpetrated on October 7, 2023 by Hamas against southern Israel.
This attack led to the death of 1218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures. Out of 251 people then removed, 58 are still retained in Gaza, including 34 dead, according to the army.
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that at least 1574 Palestinians had been killed since the resumption of Israeli military operations on March 18, bringing the number of deaths to Gaza to 50,944 from the start, 18 months ago, of the Israeli response.
The EU will announce aid of 1.6 billion euros to the Palestinians
The European Union will announce aid of 1.6 billion euros (2.5 billion Canadian dollars) to Palestinians on Monday, a little more than half of which is intended to strengthen the Palestinian authority, diplomatic sources have been learned.
“We are going to announce a major package” in matters of financial aid, the European Commissioner of the Mediterranean, Dubravka SUICA, confirmed on Monday before the start of a meeting of the European Union foreign ministers.
Europeans want to strengthen the Palestinian authority as part of the two -state solution they defend, despite the opposition of Israel. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa is scheduled to meet the ministers of the 27 on Monday to take stock of the situation, but also on the reforms claimed by the EU.
Agency France-Presse
