ReutersRelatives of hostages demonstrate in Tel Aviv for their release
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 22:46
US news site Axios says Israel has proposed a pause in fighting to Hamas. In exchange for a two-month ceasefire, all hostages should be released. The site relies on two anonymous Israeli officials, but there has been no official response.
Israel is said to have made the offer through mediators Qatar and Egypt. The pause in fighting would be part of a multi-phase plan that would eventually include the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.
Israeli officials say against Axios that they have not yet received an answer from Hamas. They are said to be cautiously optimistic about the chances that progress can be made in the coming days.
It is estimated that more than 130 Israeli hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. An unknown number of them are no longer alive. According to the news site, the proposal would also include transferring the bodies of the killed hostages to Israel.
Correspondent Israel Sander van Hoorn:
“The author of the article, Barak Ravid, is well informed. It also happens often that this type of information is leaked to journalists in the US, because Israeli media are not allowed to simply publish about it due to censorship. In this way, administrators can to find out how a sensitive plan works.
But it is notable that Netanyahu today told a group of hostage representatives that there is no plan on the table. What is clear is that behind the scenes, with the intervention of Qatar, Egypt and the US, intensive negotiations are taking place to free the remaining hostages.
It could be that this is a counter-proposal from Israel. And if that is true, the question is whether Hamas would agree to it. Because if Hamas were to release all the hostages, it would immediately lose its greatest asset. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether this information can be confirmed by other sources.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu is under growing pressure to bring the hostages back to Israel. Relatives of victims disrupted a meeting of the Israeli parliament today. They demand that the government make a deal with Hamas.
Videos on “You can’t just sit here while they die there,” one of them shouted.
Netanyahu: Not a ‘proposal’, but an ‘initiative’
Netanyahu responded with a statement, saying there was no “real proposal” from Hamas about releasing the Israelis. He did talk about an “initiative on our part, about which I cannot say anything further.”
Should the warring sides reach an agreement, it would be the second fighting break of the war. A week-long pause in fighting was imposed at the end of November. In return, Hamas released 110 hostages. Israel, in turn, had released 210 Palestinian prisoners, a demand from Hamas.
The Israeli hostages were kidnapped on October 7 in Hamas’s massive attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. Israel then launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza. More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in 3.5 months, the Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities report.
2024-01-22 21:46:47
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