Hamas proposal: Hostages only freed at end of 6-week truce in exchange for 30-50 Palestinian prisoners each

Hamas has presented a hostage release proposal to mediators in which it demands a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, implemented over three six-week phases. The proposal suggests that Israel would observe a six-week ceasefire before it receives any of the 129 hostages held by the terror group since October 7, Hebrew daily Haaretz reports.

The terror group’s proposal was reportedly submitted after it rejected the US-mediated deal late last night.

In the proposal, Hamas suggests that the IDF would be required to cease all fighting in Gaza and retreat from urban areas for six weeks, allowing displaced Palestinians to return north. Only after the end of the six weeks would any hostages be released, Hamas says, claiming that it would use the weeks of paused hostilities to locate the hostages and ascertain what condition they are in.

The terror group’s draft stipulates that 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for every Israeli civilian — a steep increase from the 3:1 ratio of the weeklong November truce. It also demands that 50 Palestinian prisoners — 30 of them serving life sentences — be released for every captive soldier.

Israel has previously dismissed similar demands as “delusional” and the number of Palestinian prisoners Hamas has demanded, as well as the severity of their crimes, has been a sticking point in several previous rounds of negotiations.