Images of potential hostages held by Hamas (Reuters archive)
While there has been talk for days of an “imminent agreement” on the issue of prisoners between Israel and the Hamas movement, 3 sources linked to the negotiations on the release of prisoners in Gaza have revealed that they have resumed and achieved slight progress after a long pause for days, according to what the Axios website reported on Sunday.
He added that it is possible to reduce the differences to some extent, but not enough to reach an agreement, explaining that if an agreement is reached, the implementation will take place in two phases, the first in which Hamas will release 50 women and children in exchange of the cessation of fighting for 5 days.
He also added that as the cessation of fighting continues for 5 days, Hamas will determine the location of other people and children who it says are being held by other factions, so that they can be released in the second phase.
Yahya Al-Sanwar
According to two sources, Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader, agreed in principle to increase the number of women and children to be released to more than 50, but asked Israel to stop aerial surveillance of Gaza for 6 hours a day. during the cessation of fighting “so that Hamas members can search for detainees without Israel spying on them.”
They also revealed that Sinwar is also demanding that Israel release all Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
“The ball is in their court”
For his part, the official in charge of the Hamas prisoner dossier, Zaher Jabarin, told the Arab World News Agency (AWP) that “we have not yet been informed” of the Israeli approval of the prisoner deal and that ” the ball is in play.” their court.”
Jabareen added that the overall framework of the agreement is “children and women in exchange for children and women.”
Relentless efforts
Several weeks ago, Qatar and the United States, in addition to Egypt, launched persistent efforts to reach a consensus between Hamas and Israel regarding the prisoners’ dossier, leading to some progress.
Interestingly, on October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack during which its members infiltrated Israeli military bases across the separation wall and attacked settlements on the border of the Gaza Strip, which, according to Israel, it caused the deaths of approximately 1,200 people. The movement also took 240 hostages in the attack, taking them to Gaza.
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