Hamas unveils proposed 3-stage Gaza cease-fire, hostage swap deal
A NEW cease-fire proposal, presented in Cairo, suggests a three-stage plan that includes the conditional return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, according to a Palestinian source familiar with the peace talks on Monday.
The proposal calls for the release of 900 Palestinians from Israeli jails, including at least 100 serving long terms, in exchange for the release of Israeli civilians, the source, who preferred not to be named, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The first stage of the cease-fire plan would involve the return of displaced Palestinians to designated shelters in northern Gaza under international supervision.
In the second stage, a hostage swap would take place in which all Israeli captives would be released in exchange for a number of Palestinians to be determined later.
In the third stage, Israeli corpses would be handed over from Gaza, the Palestinian source added.
Commenting on the proposal, Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, told AA that the proposal ignores the call for a clear cease-fire and fails to address Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
Regarding the prisoner exchange, he noted that the proposal ensures the release of all Israeli prisoners, while Israel’s release of Palestinian detainees is subject to compromise.
Earlier on Monday, following extensive meetings, both the Israeli and Hamas delegations left Cairo after engaging in indirect talks through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Tel Aviv believes 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding no fewer than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.
Indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas group are taking place in both Cairo and Doha aimed at reaching a deal that includes a prisoner swap under which the Israeli captives will be released in exchange for Palestinians released from Israeli jails.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Over 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war, now in its 181st day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
On March 25, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the cease-fire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.