The truce proposal being negotiated between Israel and Hamas foresees the exchange of all Israeli hostages held by the Islamist group in exchange for the release of 1,290 Palestinian captives in Israeli penitentiaries, according to what they told EFE Egyptian sources.
“If Hamas’s approval is received, the document proposed by Egypt will be applied (…), which contains two stages; The first includes the release of the held civilian (hostages), women and children, without exception, in exchange for the release of 990 Palestinian prisoners.they said to EFE the sources, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.
In this first phase, “the resistance (Hamas and other Palestinian groups) will identify 100 (of the 990 prisoners),” while “the displaced from the north” return to their homes and “the volume of aid entering the strip increases,” they added.
They also indicated that in the second phase “the rest of those held in the hands of Hamas and other groups will be released in exchange for the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners.”
The same sources assured EFE that Egypt “continues its consultations with all interested parties to resolve controversial points,” without specifying, although they stressed that the contacts took place in a “positive atmosphere.”
The Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, close to the Shiite group Hezbollah, published a document this Wednesday that it stated was the “text of the proposal” delivered by Egypt to Hamas, on which the response of the Palestinian Islamist group is expected.
This proposal provides for the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including the military and the dead, in exchange for the Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and the beginning of its reconstructionaccording to the newspaper.
He also stressed that the initiative includes a pause in fighting in three phases, of 124 days, in which a cessation of military operations would be implemented in parallel with an increase in humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.
The Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated the United States’ opposition to a Israeli offensive on the city of Rafahin southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken shelter, in a meeting on Wednesday with the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahureported a US official.
Blinkenwho two days ago already expressed his fear for the safety of Palestinian civilians refugees in that southern Gaza city, “reiterated the clear US position on Rafah“said the State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
The head of American diplomacy is in his seventh visit to the region since the war broke out in October, in an attempt to achieve an elusive agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken and Netanyahu have held a private meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, before addressing a meeting in which representatives of the governments of both countries will participate, including both Israeli ambassadors and ministers.
According to the Israeli media Walla, Netanyahu assured Blinken that he will not accept an agreement that includes the end of the war in Gaza, which has already caused the death of more than 34,500 Palestinians,
Netanyahu warned that If Hamas does not give up its demand for a permanent ceasefire, there will be no agreement and Israel will invade the town of Rafahwhere 1.4 million people are crowded together, the media reported, citing Israeli and American officials.
One of the demands of the Palestinian group is that, in a second phase of the agreement for the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, Israel commits to ending its offensive, something that, according to sources, Netanyahu opposes.
(With information from EFE)
