Hamas said to ‘agree in principle’ to resume talks with Israel on hostage deal
Hebrew media reports pile up about terror group retreating from permanent ceasefire demand, but Hamas official says Israel leaking false information to fend off domestic pressure
Qatari mediators have reportedly told Israel that Hamas “agrees in principle” to resume negotiations for the release of further hostages taken by the terror group during the October 7 atrocities, in exchange for a truce of up to a month in the Gaza Strip.
Israel is responding warily to the message and stressing that it will quickly emerge whether Hamas is indeed serious, the Walla news site reported Friday, citing three Israeli officials.
It was one of several Hebrew media reports suggesting progress in the talks after weeks of deadlock, but a senior Hamas official went on to dampen optimism about a deal, insisting that the terror group was only interested in a deal that included a permanent ceasefire.
According to the Walla report, the talks remained centered on a proposal presented by Mossad chief David Barnea that would include the release of some 40 hostages, including women still held by Hamas, men over 60 and those with serious medical issues. In return for the hostages, Israel would halt military operations in Gaza for up to one month and release a number of Palestinian security prisoners.
One of the Israeli officials said the Qatari message was a positive development but very preliminary.
“We move from a freeze [in talks] to a situation that is very cold,” the official was quoted as saying.
Another official said Israel had yet to receive a concrete offer from Qatar and was waiting for further details, adding, “In any case, the gaps remain large.”
A Channel 12 report on progress in the talks said the proposal being pushed by Qatar could see as many as 50 hostages released in exchange for a month-long truce and the release of Palestinian security prisoners. While Israel has thus far refrained from releasing those convicted of murder, that is expected to change in subsequent deals.
Channel 12 said that a main sticking point in the talks has been the length of the truce. Hamas has insisted publicly that it won’t settle for anything less than a permanent ceasefire. Accordingly, Qatari mediators are also looking at brokering a more complex deal that would combine a political settlement with a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza — something that has been a non-starter for Jerusalem, the network reported.
In a Kan news Friday report on the hostage talks, the network said Barnea told the war cabinet on Thursday that Hamas was actually no longer demanding a permanent ceasefire in exchange for releasing hostages. However, the Mossad chief reportedly told the ministers that the price Israel would have to pay in terms of truce length and prisoner releases would be much steeper this time.
Israel freed 240 female and underage Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for 105 hostages, 80 of whom were released as a formal part of the deal, during a seven-day truce last month.
Meanwhile on Friday, one of Hamas’s senior officials in Lebanon said there had been no talks regarding a hostage deal in exchange for another temporary truce.
Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera that Hamas has informed mediators that the terror group’s priority is a permanent ceasefire and that there is currently no talk of releasing hostages before the fighting stops.
The Hamas official went on to accuse Israel of leaking false information in order to fend off mounting domestic pressure on the government for a hostage deal.
A delegation of high-level Hamas officials was reportedly due to arrive in Egypt over the weekend for talks with Cairo about putting an end to the nearly 12-week war with Israel that began with the terror group’s deadly October 7 onslaught.
Egypt’s three-stage plan provides for renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and ultimately an end to the war.
On Thursday, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said that Cairo has yet to receive a response from either Israel or Hamas and that it would only provide additional details about the plan once both parties have presented their stances.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at progress during a Thursday meeting with families of those held by the terror group in the Gaza Strip.
The premier told the families: “Negotiations are ongoing as we speak. I can’t go into details on the status – we’re working to bring everyone home. That’s our goal.”
“We’re not giving up on anyone,” the prime minister said, according to Hebrew media reports.
It is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after the weeklong truce in late November.
The hostages were abducted during Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border from Gaza by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing some 240 hostages of all ages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.
The vast majority of those killed as gunmen attacked border communities were civilians — including babies, children and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 people were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a wide-scale military campaign which Gazan authorities say has killed over 21,000 people. The figures issued by the Hamas-run health ministry cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 8,000 Hamas and other terror group operatives in Gaza.
In recent weeks, reports have swirled in Hebrew and international media about renewed talks with the Iran-backed terror group, mediated by Qatar, which hosts Hamas’s political bureau and doubles as the main residence of its self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as its former leader Khaled Mashaal. The country is one of Hamas’s main backers, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to the terror group annually in transfers backed and facilitated by Israel.
Due to their close ties, the wealthy Gulf monarchy, a US ally that also hosts a large American military base, has acted as a communications channel with Hamas.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
