Hamas accepts US proposal on talks over Israeli hostages 16 days after first phase, source says

A senior Hamas source said on Saturday that a revised Hamas-Israel deal proposal agreed that talks to release Israeli hostages, including soldiers and remaining men, would start in a 16-day period after the first phase of the agreement.

The source said that the proposal ensures that mediators would guarantee a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery, and withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the second phase of the agreement.

The terrorist Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout a first six-week phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

A source in Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.

Hamas informed Hezbollah of its agreement to the ceasefire proposal. Nasrallah welcomed the step.

Israeli officials show signs of deal acceptance

The Wall Street Journal reported that Mossad officials “believe that the cabinet will approve the latest proposal for a ceasefire”

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP “The movement expects a response from Israel to its proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza today or tomorrow. If the response is positive, we will discuss the proposals in detail. The movement’s military capabilities in the Gaza Strip are still in a good position for the continuation of the war.”

This week Mossad confirmed that the mediators in the abductee deal conveyed to the negotiation team Hamas’s reference to the outline of the hostage deal. “Israel is examining the reference and will return its answer to the mediators,” it was reported.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over the past few days with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.

A regional source said the US administration was trying hard to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.

Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next week.

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