Gaza: Hamas reportedly showed “surprising flexibility” in negotiations
According to the A-Sharq newspaper, citing a Hamas source, the Palestinian terrorist movement showed flexibility that would have surprised the Israeli delegation during the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of prisoners. The source, close to the negotiations, affirms that an agreement would be close and would only depend on the Israeli response. Hamas reportedly agreed to provide a list of living prisoners in the first phase and added 11 prisoners to the list following an Israeli request.
The movement would also have made concessions on several sensitive points: the maintenance of Israeli forces on the Philadelphia axis, the closure of the Rafah crossing, and the Israeli military presence on the Netzarim axis which separates the north and south of Gaza. These concessions would be conditional on the return of the displaced via an electronic crossing point equipped with cameras at the western “Al-Shouhada” crossroads during the first phase, scheduled to last 6 to 8 weeks.
The two sides reportedly agreed on the broad outlines of the second phase, postponing points of disagreement for later discussions.
