Washington, United States – Israel has rejected a new proposal from Hamas through Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a deal involving the release of hostages in three phases, Axios portal reported citing sources.
Each phase, according to the proposal, would include a pause in fighting for more than a month in exchange for the release of hostages. However, Hamas representatives demanded that, at the first phase of implementation of the agreements, Israel begin pulling its forces out of the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of 40 hostages. The implementation of the third phase of the deal, which provided for the release of prisoners of war, implied the end of the conflict, according to Axios sources.
Israel rejected the proposal, but one of the Israeli officials said the offer shows Hamas is now ready to engage in negotiations on a new hostage deal, even as the fighting in Gaza continues. Hamas has said Israel must end the war before the group would negotiate a new hostage deal, the report said.
Axios revealed that Hamas representatives previously insisted that they would be ready to negotiate a new deal only if the fighting in the Palestinian enclave ended.
An unnamed Israeli official told Axios that Israeli officials considered the proposal “was totally off base and we asked the mediators to try and produce a more acceptable proposal.” According to him, work in this direction is underway.