Israel plans to respond to Hamas’ offer of a week-long ceasefire in exchange for a list of hostages, on the eve of Mossad chief David Barnea’s visit to Qatar tomorrow , reported Ynet . Israel is reportedly considering responding to Hamas’s proposal with a counter-proposal: accepting Hamas’ offer in exchange for the release of several hostages as proof of Hamas’ intention to free them.
In order to reach at least 24 men who will be released in the first phase of the more permanent ceasefire deal, Israel is trying to pressure Hamas to also release wounded men aged under 50 years in the humanitarian category. Hamas claims that this request was not part of the conditions presented to it, which is why it demands the release of terrorists sentenced to long prison terms for serious terrorist attacks or of a large number of terrorists in exchange of the release of young men hostages.
Furthermore, a source close to the negotiations told the newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “today is a decisive day for the fate of negotiations between Hamas and Israel. The mediators managed to bridge the gap between the two sides through compromise solutions and are awaiting the response from the Israeli government this evening.”
On Saturday evening, Israeli sources said all details had been agreed to, except that Hamas still refuses to hand over a list of hostages to Israel, saying it needs a week’s time to try to locate them. .
Hamas is also trying to put pressure on Israel by publishing signs of the hostages’ life, as it did on Saturday with a video showing Liri Albag. According to the media outlet, Hamas’ decision to release this video could be aimed at putting pressure on one of Israel’s most sensitive points, or to pressure the Israeli delegation to compromise and agree to release more murderous terrorists.
Last week, Can reported that Hamas had proposed a one-week ceasefire that would not include the release of hostages, and that on the fourth day it would provide a list of hostages it is able to release. The week-long pause in fighting is believed to be intended to give Hamas time to gather information on the remaining hostages.
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