Israel could be close to signing a new deal with Hamas, which would see the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a four-month ceasefire, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
CIA chief William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, along with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials, are set to convene in Paris on Sunday to discuss the new proposal.
According to the report, the new deal would include a number of phases.
First, the fighting would cease for six weeks, following which Israeli children, women, and elderly in need of urgent medical care would be freed from Gaza captivity. In return, Israel would release numerous Palestinian prisoners and expand the aid entering Gaza, the WSJ said.
In the subsequent phases, Hamas would release Israeli female soldiers and male soldiers, followed by bodies of hostages.
In exchange, during the pause in the fighting, Hamas would receive an international guarantee, led by the US, that a deal would be obtained, which would see the permanent end of the war in Gaza, the journal further stated.
An Egyptian official told the WSJ that both sides have yet to agree to the deal.
New deal could be reached in next two weeks
However, according to a report by the New York Times, US negotiators have already written a draft based on Israel and Hamas’s propositions to be discussed in the Paris meeting.
A deal could be reached in the next two weeks, as per the report. The last ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on November 24 and lasted until November 30.
During that time, 105 Israeli hostages were released from Gaza captivity.
There are still 136 hostages detained by Hamas in Gaza.
Aaron Poris and Miriam Bulwar David-Hay contributed to this article.
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