Hamas, Israel ‘close’ to a truce: What their deal may include? 5 things to know

A leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Tuesday that it is “close to reaching” a truce deal in the Israel-Hamas war. “We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was quoted by news agency AFP as saying. However, there has been no immediate response from Israel on the status of negotiations.

What is the Hamas-Israel deal about? Here’s are key conditions that the truce might include:

1. Freeing hostages: Negotiations to free hostages seized in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel are at their “closest point” to a deal and have reached the “final stage,” mediator Qatar was quoted by AFP as saying.
Between 50 and 100 Israeli civilian and foreign hostages would be released, but no military personnel, sources were quoted by the report as saying. In exchange, around 300 Palestinians, including women and minors, would be freed from Israeli jails. Around 240, mostly Israeli, hostages were held by Hamas fighters on October 7, during the deadliest assault on Israel in its history.

2. Five-day truce: The tentative agreement between Hamas and Israel would include a five-day truce, sources told AFP. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera quoted Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq as saying that the ongoing talks were for a truce that would last “a number of days”.

3. Complete ceasefire: This truce could “comprised of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily”, the report said.

4. Food and medical aid for Gaza: The Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources also said that the proposed deal might also allow for up to 300 trucks of food and medical aid to enter Gaza.

5. ‘We will not stop fighting’: After mediators said a truce deal was in sight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we are making progress” on the return of hostages. “I hope there will be good news soon,” Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers at a military base in the north of the country.

Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister had maintained that, “We will not stop fighting until we bring the hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure that there is no more of a threat from Gaza”. He had said this on social media after meeting representatives of the hostages’ families on Monday evening.

Hope over Israel-hamas truce is mounting as an agreement between the two parties is likely to bring some respite for people of Gaza Strip who have lived for more than six weeks under attack by Israeli forces. However, according to a Guardian report, observers cautioned that public statements during such negotiations are often misleading and any potential deal could easily collapse.

Despite the efforts towards a truce, fighting raged on in war-hit Gaza. The war between Hamas and Israel ensued after the October 7 attack in which Israel said Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas government, more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children, have been killed in the war, news agency AFP reported.

Source » livemint.com