A source within the Palestinian militant group Hamas informed AFP on Wednesday that Hamas is currently reviewing plans for a three-stage truce with Israel. These plans envision a temporary halt to the Gaza war, to last several weeks.
Hamas is reviewing plans for a three-stage truce with Israel, which foresee a weeks-long halt to the Gaza war, a source in the Palestinian militant group told AFP on Wednesday.
The Islamist movement said earlier this week it was mulling proposals drawn up by mediators in Paris for a second truce, nearly four months since the war began.
While a November pause to the fighting lasted one week, the latest accord aims to pave the way for an initial six-week halt to the fighting.
Over that period, Israel will release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners who are not deemed high-security detainees, in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages held in Gaza, the Hamas source close to Egyptian and Qatari mediators said.
Only “women, children and sick men over 60” who are captive in Gaza will be freed at this stage, the Hamas source told AFP, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.
Israel says 132 hostages remain in Gaza, including at least 29 people believed to have been killed.
Under the new agreement, aid deliveries would be boosted with the entry of 200 to 300 trucks per day.
“The first stage includes negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces and enabling the return of displaced people to Gaza City and the north of the Strip,” the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ruled out pulling Israel’s armed forces from Gaza.
If the ceasefire lasts, a second stage would see Israeli reservist soldiers released from captivity in exchange for an undefined number of Palestinian prisoners.
Other soldiers and officers would subsequently be freed, the source said, once more in tandem with the release of Palestinians held in Israel.
The last issues addressed by the deal pertain to an exchange of bodies by the two sides, as well as the control of Gaza border crossings and rebuilding the shattered territory.
Egypt and Qatar are set to serve as mediators, in coordination with the United States and France, the Hamas source added.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
