Report: Hamas ready to finalize hostage deal

There are contradictory reports on whether Hamas gave Egypt a list of ill, wounded, female, and elderly candidates for the first stage of a deal.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

There are some indications that Israel and Hamas may be nearing a hostages-for-ceasefire agreement, with conflicting reports emerging on whether Hamas gave Egypt a list of ill, wounded, female, and elderly candidates for release in the first part of such a deal.

According to a Monday report in the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a list of hostages was handed over to Egyptian intelligence officials along with a parallel list of names of Palestinian prisoners Hamas wants released in exchange.

The Qatari news outlet reported that four American hostages who do not fit the criteria were also on the list.

Of the eight Israelis with American citizenship believed to be held in Gaza, three are still assumed to be alive – Keith Siegel, who at 65 could be considered elderly, lone soldier Edan Alexander (20), who was recently featured in a Hamas propaganda video, and Sagui Dekel-Chen (35) of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

A top Hamas official in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, denied the report Wednesday, telling local outlet Al Mayadeen that no such list had been provided. He also denied an Israeli report last week that Israel provided Egyptian negotiators with a new version of the ceasefire deal that had been in the freezer for months, saying, “There was no Zionist offer… nor were there any new ideas for us to consider.”

According to reports, the updated version proposed a 42-to 60-day ceasefire, with periodic releases of male hostages over 50 and all female hostages in precarious medical conditions.

Hope for progress also came from a lightning visit that Shabak head Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi paid to Cairo Tuesday.

In talks with their respective counterparts that also focused on the fall of the Syrian regime, they discussed a potential hostage deal and what possible flexibility there could be regarding an IDF pullout from the Philadelphi Corridor, the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza that contains the former major Hamas weapons-smuggling routes both under and above ground.

Hamas has reportedly softened its long-held stance, opening to the idea of a temporary ceasefire rather than a permanent one and the possible IDF departure initially from the Rafah border area and not the entire Gaza Strip before any hostage release.

Who would take charge of the vital area is still up in the air, with the Palestinian Authority being a possibility, although the right-wing members of the Israeli government have adamantly opposed the idea in the past.

According to a report by Yedioth Aharonoth on Wednesday, senior Israeli officials were informed Tuesday night that Hamas is seeking to reach an agreement regarding a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, though sources cited in the report denied that a list of hostages had been given by Hamas to Israel via Egypt.

“We’re not there yet,” said a source familiar with the matter.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel Thursday before going on to mediators Qatar and Egypt to push for a deal before Donald Trump is inaugurated as president on January 20.

National Security Council Communications Adviser John Kirby said Tuesday that the Biden administration was working “extremely hard,” although “I am not in a position today where I can tell you that we have a deal that is on the brink of completion…. We do think there’s an opportunity here to get a hostage deal in place.”

He also put the ball squarely in Hamas’s court, saying, “Hamas continues to be the obstacle to that outcome, but we’re pressing on it really, really, hard with that.”

He sounded a cautiously optimistic note after referring to the recent implosion of Syria due to its main allies’ inability to protect the now-fallen regime.

Hamas, he said, “absolutely ought to move because there is nobody coming to their assistance there. They can’t rely on Hezbollah. They certainly can’t rely on Iran. This is the time to make a deal.”