Israel & Hamas ‘talking’

Hostage-release bid

Israel and Hamas reportedly are working toward brokering a month-long cease-fire to allow for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners — but the deal is being held up by the two sides’ inability to agree on how to end the nearly four-month war.

Israel and Hamas seem to be nearing an agreement to release Israeli hostages in return for a break in the violence, the release of Palestinian prisoners and additional aid for Gaza, three anonymous officials told Reuters.

The release of the morethan-130 hostages still held in Gaza would be done in stages, prioritizing Israeli civilians and ending with soldiers.

The possible agreement follows what one source called “intensive” mediation talks led by Qatar, Washington and Egypt.

Hamas first proposed a break of several months, one source claimed, though Israel disagreed and the time frame was lowered to about 30 days.

The sparring groups also cannot agree on how much they want to negotiate at a time, with Hamas refusing to move forward until the future conditions of a permanent cease-fire are determined, while Israel just wants to negotiate one stage at a time, several sources told Reuters.

Mediation efforts

Hamas hopes to get “a package deal” agreement to a permanent cease-fire before it agrees to release any of the hostages, a Palestinian official involved in mediation efforts said. Israel and Hamas are in contact solely through mediators.

US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk was in the region Tuesday — for the second time in a week — for discussions about releasing hostages, a White House spokesperson said.

Those involved in the mediation process said they were working to convince Hamas to accept a onemonth truce followed by a permanent cease-fire — a deal Hamas has refused without guarantees that Israel will not restart the conflict.