Israel mulls hostage deal
Qatar tables new plan for Gaza ceasefire amid Blinken visit to region
Israel’s war cabinet is discussing a new proposal from Qatar over the release of hostages being held by Hamas.
A new Qatari proposal for a ceasefire would see Hamas leaders deported from Israel and all of the hostages captured by the terrorist group released in exchange for the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza, according to the Times of Israel, citing officials in Doha, Qatar.
If the proposal is agreed on, hostages would be released in stages.
It comes as The Hostage and Missing Families’ Forum demanded that the Israeli war cabinet approve any deal that would lead to the release of the hostages.
“The reports about a new deal that will be presented to the cabinet tonight give some hope to the families who are anxious about the fate of their loved ones – who have been suffering in the Hamas tunnels for almost 100 days and nights without food, water, and lifesaving medical treatment. Every day that passes, the condition of the hostages is getting worse,” a statement from the group said.
“We demand that the war cabinet must not concern itself with anything other than the return of the hostages, we demand that they approve any deal that will lead to their immediate release alive!”
The tentative steps came amid a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region as world leaders and the UN tried to calm mounting tensions in the Middle East. The United Nations Security Council has demanded an “immediate” end to attacks by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, though China, Algeria and Mozabique abstained from the vote.
Increasing attacks have caused shipping companies to bypass the route and divert around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding to time and costs.
Mr Blinken repeated US claims that Iran was behind the attacks. “These attacks have been aided and abetted by Iran with technology, equipment, intelligence, information, and they are having a real-life impact on people,” Mr Blinken told reporters in Bahrain.
Mr Blinken met with the head of the Palestinian Authority and travelled to Bahrain on his Middle East tour aimed at stopping the Israel-Hamas war from escalating.
The Israeli military said it killed dozens of “terrorists” and hit another 150 targets in Hamas-run Gaza, where the health ministry said 147 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours.
The Gaza war has raged since the unprecedented Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 and killed more than 23,000 people in the besieged Palestinian territory, according to its health ministry.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas spoke with Blinken of the need “to stop the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Mr Blinken told Abbas that Washington supported “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state – a long-term goal which Israel has opposed.