Hamas may release 33 Israeli hostages in new ceasefire deal

(CLO) Two Israeli officials said Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire deal being finalized by negotiators in Doha, Qatar.

Israel believes most of the 33 hostages are still alive, a senior Israeli official told reporters on Monday, but the bodies of dead hostages were also likely among those released during the initial 42-day ceasefire.

Hamas and its allies are still holding 94 hostages taken from Israel in the October 7, 2023 attacks, of whom at least 34 have died, according to the Israeli government.

Information board about Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Photo: CC/Oren Rozen

A senior Israeli official said the parties appeared to be on the verge of reaching a deal and Israel was ready to implement the deal immediately after it was signed.

US President Joe Biden expressed similar optimism in a foreign policy-focused speech on Monday, saying the US was "pressing hard to end this".

“The deal we have forged will free the hostages, end the fighting, provide security for Israel and allow us to dramatically increase humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, who have suffered horribly in the war that Hamas has waged. They have been through hell,” Biden said.

A final round of talks to finalize the deal is scheduled to take place in Doha on Tuesday, according to sources. Some of the hostage families have been invited to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

The release of the 33 hostages will be the first phase of the deal. Negotiations to reach the second phase - aimed at ending the war - will begin on the 16th day of the deal's implementation.

According to the latest proposals revealed by officials, Israeli forces would maintain a presence along the Philadelphia Corridor – a narrow strip of land along the Egyptian-Gaza border – during the first phase of the deal.

Israel will also maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border with Israel, an official said, but did not specify how large that buffer would be - another contentious issue in the talks.

Residents of northern Gaza will be allowed to return freely to the northern part of the strip, but with “security measures” from Israel. Palestinian prisoners deemed responsible for killing Israelis are not expected to be released to the West Bank, but will instead be released to the Gaza Strip or abroad.

A senior Israeli official told reporters on Monday that a “breakthrough” in the talks came Sunday night during a meeting between Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency chief, David Barnea, and mediators in Doha, Qatar.

“We are getting closer than ever to a deal but mediators in Doha are still waiting for an official response from both sides,” said a Saudi official briefed on the talks.

Hoang Huy (according to TOI, CNN, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hamas-co-the-som-tha-33-con-tin-israel-trong-thoa-thuan-ngung-ban-moi-post330268.html