Report: Deal proposal would see Israel receive list of living hostages in exchange for 6-8 week Gaza truce

Visitors at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, January 5, 2024. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
Visitors at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, January 5, 2024. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

A Lebanese outlet affiliated with Hezbollah says the latest negotiations for a potential hostage-ceasefire deal are examining the possibility of a truce lasting six to eight weeks, during which Israel will receive a list of the names of all the living hostages.

Egyptian sources tell the outlet that Hamas will also formulate a list of dead hostages in the cases “in which the locations of their bodies are known to officials.”

The Cairo officials tell the outlet that during the truce, the amount of aid entering the Strip would increase and work would take place to rebuild the health system in Gaza.

The report says discussions on governance in Gaza after the war have been postponed to a later stage, and that while IDF troops would be expected to remain on the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, the status of the Rafah Border Crossing to Egypt remains under discussion by Cairo, Washington and Jerusalem.

A list of 34 names of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who could be released in the first stage of an elusive ceasefire agreement with Hamas was published by a Saudi news outlet Monday, after the Palestinian terror group apparently leaked the document amid reports that negotiators were moving closer to sealing a potential hostage release and ceasefire deal.

That list was swiftly downplayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office said it was the list given by Israel to the mediating countries in July. On Sunday, reports indicated that Hamas had okayed the months-old lineup while refusing to provide information on whether those hostages were alive, which Israel insists on getting before any agreement moves forward.

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