A Hamas official told Chinese news agency Xinhua that Qatar is mediating a prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.
"With US support, Qatar is seeking to accomplish an urgent agreement that would lead to the release of Israeli women captured by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli prisons," the anonymous source told Xinhua.
The source, said to be a senior official in the terror organization, informed Qatar that Hamas is not opposed to an exchange deal that guarantees the release of all Palestinian female prisoners.It is estimated that Hamas took over 100 Israelis hostage in the surprise attack.
Hamas's surprise attack
Hamas launched the attack against Israel on Saturday morning, with thousands of rockets fired into the south of the country and hundreds of terrorists crossing the border. So far, over 700 Israelis have been killed and 2,400 injured. The IDF has carried out retaliatory airstrikes and ground troops are heading to the border of the Gaza Strip.