The US has reportedly joined other countries in a renewed effort to secure the release of the 132 hostages still in Gaza in exchange for an end to the war.
Diplomats involved in the talks said this Wall Street Journal that US, Egyptian and Qatari officials have presented Israel and Hamas with a 90-day proposal that includes three phases.
The first phase involves a long pause in the fighting while both sides release hostages. For Hamas, this means the release of all remaining civilians detained on October 7, while Israel would have to emancipate hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
During the first phase, the IDF would also withdraw troops from Gaza’s towns and cities, end drone surveillance and double the amount of aid going to the region.
The talks will continue in Cairo in the coming days, the diplomats said.
The US has reportedly joined other countries in a renewed effort to secure the release of the 132 hostages still in Gaza in exchange for an end to the war. (Image: Biden listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he reads a statement in Tel Aviv on October 18)
Diplomats involved in the talks told the Wall Street Journal that officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar have presented Israel and Hamas with a 90-day proposal. (Image: Israeli soldiers advance towards the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, January 21)
The first phase of a newly reported proposal from the US, Egypt and Qatar would include a long pause in attacks on Gaza. (Image: Injured Palestinian young women talk on their beds as they receive medical care aboard the French military ship LHD Dixmude, which serves as a hospital, as it docks in Egypt’s port of Al-Arish on January 21)
It comes after previous negotiations collapsed on November 30 during a weeklong ceasefire in exchange for the phased release of around 100 Israeli hostages and 300 Palestinian prisoners.
Neither Israel nor Hamas have agreed to the terms of the new proposals, and Taher Al-Nono, representing Hamas, told the WSJ that no real progress has been made.
But the two sides’ willingness to discuss the framework was a positive step, an anonymous diplomat told the newspaper.
Egyptian officials said Israeli negotiators would like a two-week ceasefire to allow a second exchange of hostages and prisoners but are reluctant to discuss the possibility of a permanent end to the war.
Meanwhile, Hamas negotiators are taking full advantage of the hostages, saying they will only be released in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners and a permanent ceasefire.
The militant group has also said the reality of the previous short-term hostage deal was disappointing: Gaza was reached with less aid than promised and many of the prisoners were re-imprisoned.
If the first phase of the 90-day plan is successful, negotiators would move to phase two.
In this phase, Hamas would free female Israeli soldiers and return the bodies of those killed in the conflict, in exchange for Israel returning more Palestinian prisoners.
A mourner in Reim, southern Israel, next to photos of people killed and kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack
A photo taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during the Israeli bombardment on January 21.
Phase three would entail the release of Israeli soldiers and men of fighting age in exchange for moving its forces beyond the current borders of the Gaza Strip.
Ultimately, a permanent ceasefire would follow, and the relaunch of the process to demarcate the agreed borders of the Palestinian state.
Egyptian officials said an international fund for the reconstruction of Gaza and security guarantees for Hamas’s political leaders had also been submitted.
The cautious negotiations are the latest development in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which culminated in a large-scale invasion of Gaza after the horrific Hamas attack on October 7.
Israel said the attack killed about 1,200 civilians, and many were raped, tortured and abused.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation and began brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 25,000 Palestinians so far.
DailyMail.com reached out to the White House for comment on the latest negotiations, but the office did not immediately respond.
Hamas released a video of hostage Noa Argamani explaining how Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirski were killed in captivity
The world watched in horror as video emerged of Noa Argamani, 26, sitting on the back of a motorcycle while shouting “Don’t kill me” at the men around her during Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October.
Itai Svirski was allegedly murdered while held captive by Hamas
Yossi Sharabi is said to have been killed after the building housing the hostages was hit by an Israeli airstrike
The resumption of negotiations also follows the release of a chilling Hamas video in which 26-year-old hostage Noa Argamani is forced to say that two of her fellow prisoners were dead.
Argamani says in the January 15 video that they were killed by IDF attacks. The footage followed another video posted that day, in which Hamas claimed they would reveal which of the three hostages is still alive.
In the images they asked viewers ‘what do you think?’ – referring to the fate of Nova festival visitor Ms Argamani, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38.
Videos of their capture at the peace festival horrified the world, with Argmani shown in horror as a Hamas militant stole her away on a motorcycle.