Israel Suggests a Two-Month Ceasefire in Gaza As Part of the Hostage Negotiations: Report
Washington: According to US news site Axios on Monday, Israel has offered to Hamas via mediators in Qatar and Egypt a two-month cease-fire as part of an agreement to release all captives detained in Gaza.
According to the story, which quoted unidentified Israeli officials, the agreement would be implemented in phases. The first would see the release of women, males over 60, and those in critical health.
The corpses of slain hostages, female troops, and younger civilian males would all be released in later stages.
The pact, according to the authorities, would also result in the release of some, but not all, of the Palestinian inmates detained in Israel.
The plan calls for Israeli soldiers to withdraw from key Gazan cities and to progressively enable people to return to the region’s damaged north, but it makes no assurances about ending the conflict.
According to the authorities, the agreement should be implemented in about two months.
The plan was also covered by the Israeli publication Ynet, which cited anonymous sources and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made mention of it at a Monday meeting with the families of the captives.
The idea was made public just as US media reported that Brett McGurk, the White House’s Middle East coordinator, was scheduled to visit the area for discussions in Egypt and Qatar with the goal of negotiating a fresh prisoner swap agreement.
Following Hamas’s brutal October 7 strikes, about 250 captives were captured; according to Israel, some 132 are still in Gaza.
This includes, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli statistics, the remains of at least 28 deceased captives.
An AFP calculation based on official Israeli numbers indicates that 1,140 persons, largely civilians, died in Israel as a consequence of the October 7 assaults.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, which is operated by Hamas, Israel responded by launching an unrelenting attack that has killed at least 25,295 people in Gaza, with almost 70% of those murdered being women, children, and teenagers.
