A two-month pause in fighting and raids in Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages. This is what Israel proposed to Hamas, through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, according to the American site Axios. This proposal unveiled Monday would lead to a second truce after a week-long truce which allowed the release of around a hundred hostages, transported to Gaza during the unprecedented attack of October 7, in exchange for at least 240 Palestinian prisoners. imprisoned in Israel. However, according to the Israeli authorities, under pressure from families to accept a release agreement, 132 hostages are still in the Gaza Strip, 28 of whom are believed to have died.
The Jewish state’s proposal provides for the return to Israel of living hostages and remains in several phases, the first of which would include women and men aged over 60, according to Axios. This would be followed by female soldiers, men aged under 60 but not in the military, male Israeli soldiers, and finally the remains of hostages.
Under the plan, Israel and Hamas were to agree in advance on the number of Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for each hostage according to their category, and then negotiate the name of each Palestinian, Axios continues. According to information from the American site, Israeli officials appear to be ready to release a significant number of Palestinian prisoners if Hamas accepted this offer. They admit that if the agreement were implemented, the Israeli army’s operations in Gaza would be much less in scale and intensity after the two-month pause in fighting.
Israelis cautiously optimistic
This plan, however, does not provide for an end to the Israel/Hamas war, nor even a longer-term political solution. On the other hand, it provides for a redeployment of Israeli soldiers outside the main towns of Gaza as well as the gradual return of hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the north to the south of Gaza in an attempt to escape the violence.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been trying for weeks to bridge the gaps between the parties in order to move towards an agreement. U.S. officials told Axios that reaching such an agreement may be the only path to a ceasefire in Gaza. Two Israeli officials contacted by the American media affirmed that the Israeli war cabinet had approved ten days ago the parameters of this new proposed agreement on hostages. These Israeli officials, who were awaiting a response from Hamas, are cautiously optimistic about the ability to complete the signing of this agreement in the coming days.
The publication of this Axios article comes as US President Joe Biden’s top adviser for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, is visiting Egypt and Qatar this week. The Wall Street Journal said on Sunday that the United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to convince Israel and Hamas to agree on the release of the hostages over a period of 90 days in exchange in particular for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.