JERUSALEM:
A senior Israeli official said on Tuesday that the government was firmly made on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza ceasefire agreement after Hamas has accepted a new truce proposal.
Mediators are waiting for an official Israeli response to the plan, one day after Hamas reported its preparation for a new series of talks aimed at finishing almost two years of war.
The Qatar mediator expressed his optimism kept for the new proposal, noting that he was “almost identical” to a previous version accepted by Israel.
Speaking under the cover of anonymity, a senior Israeli official told AFP that the government’s position had not changed and had demanded the release of all the hostages in any agreement.
The two enemies organized indirect war negotiations throughout the war throughout the war, which led to two short clovers during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they ultimately negotiated a lasting cease-fire.
Qatar and Egypt, supported by the United States, have mediated the frequent cycles of shuttle diplomacy.
Egypt said on Monday that he and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding that “the ball is now in its courtyard”.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatari, Majed Al-Ansari, said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a “very positive answer, and it was really almost identical to what the Israeli party had already accepted”.
“We can only pretend that a breakthrough has been made. But we think it is a positive point,” he added.
According to a report of the exit linked to the Egyptian state al-Qahera News, the last agreement offers an initial truce of 60 days, a release of partial hostage, the release of certain Palestinian prisoners and the provisions allowing the entry of the aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet publicly commented on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept “an agreement in which all hostages are immediately released and according to our conditions to end the war”.
The senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, said on social networks that his group had “widely opened the door to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will do it again, as he has done in the past”.
Hamas acceptance of the proposal occurred while Netanyahu faced increasing pressure in the country and abroad to end the war. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people went down to the streets of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to ask for the end of the war and an agreement to release the remaining hostages still captive.
