‘A deal can be reached’: Hamas reportedly offers positive response to hostage deal framework

Qatari mediators have transferred to the Israeli negotiating team an official Hamas response to the latest hostage deal framework, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The response includes a list of demands that a source familiar with the matter says are “reasonable” and indicate “positive” progress in the talks.

“An agreement can be reached,” the source tells Kan.

The Walla news site cites a senior Israeli official who says that Hamas’s response for the first time included the number of Palestinian security prisoners it wants to be released in exchange for each of the three categories of hostages slated to be released in the six-week first stage of the deal. This phase is supposed to see the release of female, elderly and wounded hostages.

The official says the number of prisoners Hamas is demanding is still too high, but “there is something to work with.”

Hamas issued its own statement declaring that it presented to mediators a comprehensive vision of a truce deal that is based on stopping the Israeli “aggression” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, providing relief and aid, the return of displaced Gazans to their houses and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.

The vision also includes the terror group’s stance on the prisoners-hostages exchange deal, Hamas adds in the statement but does not elaborate.

Hamas is still “bunkering down in ridiculous demands” for a hostage deal, the Prime Minister’s Office says in its own statement.

An update will be brought to the Security Cabinet tomorrow, says the PMO.

Earlier this week, a senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that Qatari and Egyptian mediators believe they managed to break through an extended logjam in talks to secure a truce and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

Progress was made after Doha placed significant pressure on Hamas, warning the terror group that its leaders residing in Qatar could be kicked out of the country if they didn’t adapt their approach in the negotiations, the diplomat said.