Israel and Hamas are close to concluding an agreement on a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages through US mediation. This was reported by the Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the potential agreements.
The negotiations were confirmed by the press secretary of the National Security Council under the US President Adrienne Watson. She tweeted: «We have not yet reached an agreement, but we continue to work hard to reach an agreement.» A US administration official, who wished to remain anonymous, called the situation “unstable.”
Arab diplomats told reporters that the plan for the agreement was drawn up over several weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha. Representatives of Israel, the United States and Hamas worked on the terms.
According to journalists' interlocutors, we are talking about declaring a five-day ceasefire. During this period, hostages will be released every day in “small batches,” the Washington Post reports. However, it is unknown how many of the 239 people held captive in the Gaza Strip will be released.
At the same time, a representative of the Israeli Embassy in Washington said that he was “not going to comment” on any aspect of the hostage situation. Compliance with the truce will be monitored from the air. One of the conditions for the pause could be an increase in the volume of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The IDF began a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27. This was in response to the Hamas attack on Israel that occurred on October 7th. The attack killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage. The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, estimates that more than 11,000 people have been killed in Israeli shelling since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.