Israel and Hamas are nearing an agreement that includes the release of a significant number of hostages in exchange for a limited ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Qatar’s prime minister as well as senior US Israeli officials on Sunday suggested an agreement was close to being reached, although observers warned that public statements during such talks are often misleading and any potential deal could easily fall apart.
The Qatari Prime Minister said that only minor differences between Hamas and Israel remained to be resolved. Israel’s ambassador to Washington said Israel hoped Hamas would be able to release a significant number of hostages. Michael Herzog said in an interview on ABC on Sunday:
“I’m hopeful we can have a deal in the coming days.”
Qatar is at the centre of mediation efforts to reach an agreement that would lead to the release of a large number of hostages, starting with children and women. A humanitarian pause of up to five days will be agreed to allow for the transfer of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, at a joint press conference in Doha with Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, said:
“The challenges facing the agreement are just practical and logistical. There has been good progress in the past few days. The deal is going through ups and downs from time to time throughout the last few weeks. But I think that you know I’m now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal that can bring the people safely back to their home.”
According to White House Deputy National Security Adviser John Feiner, any agreement to release “significantly more hostages than 12” would also likely include a prolonged pause in hostilities and allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The phased release would be the first step to de-escalate tensions since Hamas launched an offensive against Israel on 7 October in which it seized more than 200 hostages and took them to Gaza. So far, only four hostages have been freed. The hostages are believed to be 239 people from 26 countries, including several dual nationals.
Hamas claims that Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed up to 30 hostages, but there is no independent confirmation of this, and the claim may have been made to deter Israel from continuing its offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says no deal has been reached. However, there is internal pressure to release the hostages. The task of freeing the hostages while achieving the goal of eliminating Hamas as a military force capable of striking Israel again has been divisive among Israeli politicians and security agencies, as well as society at large. Borrell praised Qatar’s peace efforts. He noted:
“Qatar has emerged as a key negotiator not only in the Middle East, but in many other crises.”
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis said on Sunday they had seized an Israeli ship in the southern Red Sea and taken it to a Yemeni port. Earlier, Israel said an Iranian group seized a ship in the Red Sea that had no Israeli owners or crew on board.
