Hamas Accepts Deal to Release Hostages; Israel Now Must Approve Read more: Hamas Accepts Deal to Release Hostages; Israel Now Must Approve | Newsmax.com

NEWSMAX | Published January 14, 2025

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. The plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval.

All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

Qatar, a key mediator in the talks, said Israel and Hamas were at the “closest point” yet to an agreement.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end the 15-month war and secure the release dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it. Some 100 Israelis are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third them are dead.

Officials have expressed mounting optimism that they can conclude an agreement ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations.

The offensive has reduced large areas of the territory to rubble and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, with hundreds of thousands packed into tent camps along the coast where hunger is widespread.

Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 18 Palestinians, including two women and four children, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired two missiles at Israel, setting off sirens and sending people racing into shelters. No one was wounded by the projectiles.

The three-phase agreement — based on a framework laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council — would begin with the gradual release of 33 hostages over a six-week period, including women, children, older adults and wounded civilians in exchange for potentially hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.

Among the 33 would be five female Israeli soldiers, each of whom would be released in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 convicted terrorists who are serving life sentences. By the end of the first phase, all civilian captives — living or dead — will have been released.

During this first, 42-day phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from population centers, Palestinians would be allowed to start returning to their homes in northern Gaza and there would be a surge of humanitarian aid, with some 600 trucks entering each day.

Details of the second phase still must be negotiated during the first. Those details remain difficult to resolve — and the deal does not include written guarantees that the ceasefire will continue until a deal is reached. That leaves the potential for Israel to resume its military campaign after the first phase ends.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.newmax.com

RELATED: Hamas accepts draft agreement for Gaza cease-fire and release of hostages, officials say

Supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas block a road as they demand a deal during a protest amid ongoing negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 13, 2025.REUTERS
THE NEW YORK POST | Published January 14,  2025

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a cease-fire after 15 months of war that would soon see the release of an initial group of 33 hostages, officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.

Israeli officials said Monday night that they were in the “advanced stages of the negotiations” with the terror group, but details of the deal have not yet been finalized, the Times of Israel reported.

Qatar, a mediator in the talks, said Israel and Hamas were at the “closest point” yet to compromising.

The plan, a three-phase agreement set out by the US and endorsed by the UN Security Council, must be submitted to the Israeli cabinet for final approval before it can be enacted, according to the Associated Press, which received a copy of the draft.

It would begin with the gradual release of 33 hostages over six weeks, starting with women, children, the elderly and the wounded.

Israel, in return, would release potentially hundreds of imprisoned Palestinian women and children, according to the report.

The release would include five female Israeli soldiers who would be exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 convicted militants who are serving life sentences.

During the first phase, there would be a surge in humanitarian aid as Israeli forces withdraw from population centers and Palestinians start returning to their homes in northern Gaza.

By the end of the first phase, all civilians held captive — both alive and dead — will have been released, according to the report.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.nypost.com

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply