Search

Hamas offers to free 10 living hostages as ceasefire talks resume

Gaza terror group proposes 60-day ceasefire in exchange for release of 10 living hostages, demands US guarantee aid be allowed into Gaza unhindered and terrorists’ relatives be guaranteed safe passage.

By World Israel News Staff

Truce talks between Israel and Hamas resumed over the weekend in Doha, Qatar, officials from both sides say, as the Israeli government is reportedly poised to make a final decision on the planned conquest of the Gaza Strip.

“Even at this hour, the negotiation team in Doha is working to exhaust every possibility for a deal — whether according to the Witkoff framework or as part of ending the fighting, which would include the release of all hostages, the expulsion of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday afternoon.

According to a report by Sky News Arabia, which cited Palestinian sources, the Hamas negotiating team has presented a new offer to Israel, proposing a two-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, during which 10 living hostages will be released, while an unspecified number of deceased captives will also be returned to Israel.

Of the remaining 58 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, 35 of them have been confirmed by Israeli military intelligence to be deceased – having been killed either on October 7th or after being taken into Gaza alive. Twenty of them are believed to be alive. The fate of three others remains unclear.

Read  Hamas May Agree to Gradual Disarmament Under U.S.-Backed Gaza Plan

Under the Hamas plan, Israel would, as in previous hostage deals, release jailed Arab terrorists.

In addition, Hamas is demanding that the U.S. guarantee that humanitarian aid transfers to Gaza resume unimpeded.

Furthermore, the terror group has conditioned the release of the 10 hostages on American assurances that Israel will begin talks during the ceasefire for a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of the IDF.

The report claims that Hamas is also demanding that relatives of Hamas leaders in Gaza be guaranteed safe passage out of the Gaza Strip, with promises that Israel will not target them after they have left the coastal enclave.

Hamas has reportedly expressed openness to disarming – a key demand of Israel.

Israel’s Security Cabinet is slated to vote on Sunday night on whether to delay the planned takeover of the Gaza Strip, pushing off the massive new ground campaign in order to give negotiations one more opportunity to reach a breakthrough, Yedioth Aharanoth reported on Sunday.