Hamas leader Osama Hamdan announced on Wednesday that the Israeli response to the movement’s proposal to establish a truce in the Gaza Strip, which is being negotiated in Doha, was “generally negative.”
Hamdan said in a press conference in Beirut, “The mediator brothers conveyed to us yesterday evening, Tuesday, the occupation’s position on the proposal that the movement submitted on the evening of Thursday, March 14, and it is a negative response in general (…) and retracts the approvals that it previously presented to the mediators and was conveyed to us through them.”
On Friday, Hamas proposed a 6-week truce, during which hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, in what was considered a more flexible position, after it had been demanding a permanent ceasefire before any agreement on the release of hostages held in Gaza.
A Hamas leader told AFP on Saturday that the movement is ready to release 42 Israeli hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, with Israel releasing 20 to 30 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli detainee.
On Tuesday, Israel provided an official response to Hamas’ demands, according to what the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation “Makan” reported, citing sources who said they were familiar with the progress of the negotiations.
The proposal submitted by Israel in response to Hamas includes references to several “criteria,” including the return of residents to the northern Gaza Strip, and the issue of the release of Palestinian security prisoners, Makan reported.
“Makan” stated, “The negotiations also revolve around a decision regarding the number of security prisoners who will be released, as well as regarding the issue of the parties’ right to object to the identity of these prisoners.”
The war broke out following attacks by Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians and including women and children, according to the Israeli authorities.
On the other hand, about 31,000 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to the health authorities in Gaza, as a result of the devastating Israeli military operations, while hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes, heading to the south of the Strip, in an attempt to survive.
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