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full screen According to US sources, progress is being made in negotiations on an agreement that pauses Israel’s military operation in Gaza in exchange for the release of the more than 100 people held hostage in Gaza. Archive image. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/TT
Negotiators are making progress in reaching an agreement in which Israel pauses its military operation against Hamas in Gaza for two months, in exchange for the release of the more than 100 people still being held hostage in Gaza.
This is stated by two high-ranking American sources who requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, AP reports.
According to the sources, the agreement being negotiated includes two phases. In the first phase, a pause in fighting is made so that the women, the elderly and the injured who are still being held hostage can be released by Hamas.
After that, during the first 30 days of the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas must agree on how Israeli soldiers and civilian men held hostage can be released.
The emerging agreement also means that Israel will allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Although the agreement now being negotiated does not mean an end to the war, the American sources say they are hopeful that it can provide a basis for a sustainable solution to the conflict.
The head of the US intelligence service CIA, Bill Burns, is expected to discuss the agreement when he meets in France on Sunday David Barnea, who heads the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abd al-Rahman al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.