Egypt proposes 2-day ceasefire plan to return 4 Israeli hostages

The preliminary deal would release four hostages to Israel in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

At the resumption of negotiations in Qatar, Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proposed an initial two-day ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange intended to lead to a more comprehensive deal.

On Sunday, al-Sisi revealed that the preliminary deal would release four hostages to Israel in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

At a press conference attended by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, al-Sisi expressed hopes that the initial hostage release would lead to an extensive and final deal.

Although neither Israel nor Hamas has yet commented on Egypt’s proposal, a Palestinian official told Reuters, “I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza.”

For Israel’s part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a condition for a ceasefire is the realization of Israel’s goals during the war, namely to eliminate Hamas’s political and military control of Gaza.

The Saudi network Asharq reported that Hamas plans to propose a “comprehensive deal to end the war immediately” which will demand the complete withdrawal of the IDF before the hostages are released.

A Hamas official explained their version of a deal “would end the war once and for all, and would include a prisoner swap where all Israeli hostages are released in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons” and added that without the end of the war “there will be no deal.”

Mossad director David Barnea along with CIA director William Burns have congregated in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to seek an end to the year-long war in Gaza and to solidify a deal that would release hostages Hamas captured on October 7th.

Barnea has been working on a new framework for a hostage release deal which will be adjusted to include some points from the Egyptian plan.

Hamas has rejected a deal put forward by Mossad chief David Barnea that would allow immunity and safe passage for Hamas terrorists in exchange for the hostages in Gaza.