Israeli delegation remains in Qatar to negotiate release of 10 hostages

According to the proposal, Hamas would be compelled to release detailed information about the status of the remaining hostages by the tenth day of the truce.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel’s Channel 12 news has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the Israeli negotiating team to stay in Doha.

Israeli negotiators will reportedly discuss a proposal that would release ten hostages in exchange for 200 to 250 Palestinian prisoners during a six to eight-week ceasefire.

According to the proposal, Hamas would be compelled to give over detailed information about the status of the remaining hostages by the tenth day of the truce.

Egyptian sources say Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani on Saturday night.

Last week, following the release of the last living American hostage Edan Alexander, President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostages, Adam Boehler, and the president’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where they met with relatives of some of the 58 captives still held in the Gaza Strip.

During the meeting, Witkoff and Boehler said Hamas’ decision to release Alexander unconditionally as a goodwill gesture to the U.S. pointed to a greater willingness by the terror group to reach a compromise.

The two envoys were scheduled to travel to Qatar for discussions, leveraging the momentum created by Alexander’s release to break the impasse in the hostage release talks.

Witkoff is said to have “assured the families that if he and Adam Boehler didn’t believe there was a genuine chance for progress in negotiations, they wouldn’t be making the trip to Doha.”

Trump’s Middle East envoy also emphasized that the United States “will accept nothing less than the return of everyone, as this is the president’s mission.”

On May 5th, Israel gave Hamas until May 16th to reach a deal for the return of the remaining 58 hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, it will face the total takeover of Gaza by IDF forces, a senior Israeli defense official warned.