Hamas demands release of Fatah terror chief Barghouti, PFLP leader in hostage deal; seeks permanent ceasefire
A senior Hamas figure says his terror group is still studying a proposed multi-stage deal to free Israeli hostages it took in the October 7 onslaught, in exchange for a prolonged pause in Israel’s offensive against Hamas and the release of Palestinian security prisoners, but at the same time appears to rule out key components of the proposal.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, says the Gaza-ruling terror group remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent ceasefire. Israel is ready to pause the fighting in order to secure the release of hostages, but insists it will not end its military campaign until Hamas is destroyed.
Hamdan also says Hamas seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences.
He mentions two by name, including Fatah terror convict Marwan Barghouti, who is seen as a top future candidate to lead the Palestinian Authority. Barghouti was arrested by Israel in 2002 and is serving five life terms for planning three terror attacks during the Second Intifada that killed five Israelis.
In addition to Barghouti, Hamdan names Ahmad Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group, as well as Hamas prisoners and those from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. Saadat is serving a 30-year sentence for his role in the 2001 assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.
Hamdan tells Lebanon’s LBC TV that Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire, rejecting the proposal’s staged approach, with several pauses in fighting.
“There is no way that this will be acceptable to the resistance,” he says.
“We have tried temporary truces and it turned out that the Israelis don’t respect these truces but always violate them,” Hamdan says in an apparent reference to a weeklong truce in November that ended after Hamas failed to provide a new list of hostages for release that met previously agreed criteria and fired rockets at Israel.
