Report: Israel proposes deal in which all hostages freed at once, end to fighting in Gaza, safe passage for Sinwar

Israel has proposed a framework for a deal with Hamas that would see all the hostages released at once and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with safe passage out of the enclave for Yahya Sinwar and his associates, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The proposed plan would see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given.

According to the report, Gal Hirsch, the government point man on the hostages, told the families of hostages that the proposal was presented last week in a meeting with US officials from the White House and State Department.

Sources who met with Hirsch say the proposal is called the “safe passage deal.”

An unnamed Israeli official tells Kan that the plan has been proposed as a “Plan B.”

“In light of the difficulties in the negotiations and the ticking clock on the lives of the hostages, we would like to propose a secondary plan that would shorten the stages, and allow for a faster deal,” the official says. “This will happen if Sinwar leaves [Gaza] and brings about an end to the war. This will allow us to to meet the goals of the war, and for the leadership of Hamas in Gaza to leave to a safe place.”

It is not the first time a proposal has been touted that would see all the hostages released in one go in return for the end of the war, sparked by Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack.