Israeli and American media reported that Israel submitted a proposal to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to conclude a deal to release detainees in Gaza in exchange for a temporary halt to the war on the Strip, amid cautious Israeli optimism.

Israeli Channel 13 reported - yesterday evening, Monday - that Tel Aviv had finished formulating the principles of a deal consisting of 3 to 4 stages, which includes changing the army’s deployment in the Gaza Strip and withdrawing from some areas without ending the war.

The American website Axios quoted two Israeli officials as saying that the proposal presented by Tel Aviv to Hamas through Qatari and Egyptian mediators includes a two-month cessation of war during which all Israeli detainees in Gaza will be released.

According to Israeli officials, there are more than 130 detainees still in Gaza, and many of the detainees were either killed on October 7 or in the subsequent weeks of the war.

Axios said that Brett McGurk, advisor to President Joe Biden, went to Egypt on Sunday and will later move to Qatar in order to conduct negotiations to secure the release of those detained by the resistance. The site added that the Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been trying for weeks to bridge the gap between the two parties to achieve progress in concluding a deal.

American officials told Axios that reaching such an agreement may be the only way to stop the war in Gaza.

According to the website, Israeli officials said that they were awaiting Hamas' response, but stressed that they felt cautiously optimistic about achieving progress in the coming days.

Stages of the deal

Channel 13 reported that the deal includes, in the first phase, Hamas releasing its remaining women and elderly men, although it is not clear whether they will be released all at once.

The channel said that in the second phase, younger detainees and youth will be released, while the third phase includes the release of soldiers and bodies held by Hamas.

Axios quoted Israeli officials as saying that the deal includes the redeployment of Israeli forces from the main residential areas, and the gradual return of Palestinians to the areas from which they were displaced in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials confirmed that the deal confirms that Tel Aviv will not agree to end the war and will not agree to release all Palestinian prisoners as demanded by the Palestinian resistance.

According to Israeli officials, military operations will decrease in number and intensity after two months, if Hamas agrees to the deal.

The channel quoted Israeli sources - which it did not name - that Tel Aviv received during the past few days messages from mediators indicating that Hamas seemed more flexible regarding its demand that the end of the war be part of a possible deal.

Earlier Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said - during a meeting with the families of detainees in Gaza - that he is working on a deal to release their relatives, but he added, “I will not go into its details,” according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

A group of families of Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza stormed a meeting of the Finance Committee in the Knesset in Jerusalem yesterday, demanding that representatives make more efforts to try to release their relatives.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas unleashed the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” after which Israel launched a devastating war on Gaza that, as of yesterday, left 25,295 killed and 63,000 injured, most of them children and women, according to the Palestinian authorities.

During a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted for 7 days and ended in early December, Hamas released 105 civilians detained by it, including 81 Israelis, 23 Thai citizens, and one Filipino, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons (71 female prisoners and 169 children).

Tel Aviv estimates that there are about 136 Israelis still detained in the Gaza Strip, according to identical media reports and statements by Israeli officials.

Source: Axios + Anadolu Agency