Israel informed Qatar that it would be ready for at least a week-long truce in the Gaza fighting in exchange for the release of about 40 hostages held by Hamas, Walla learned on Tuesday.
Senior Israeli officials and a foreign source both said that Israel forwarded a proposal through Qatar to Hamas for a new agreement for the release of hostages. At a meeting in Warsaw with Mossad head David Barnea and CIA head Bill Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said that Hamas's condition on the renewal of negotiations is the cessation of the war.
Barnea said in response that the war will only end when Hamas lays down its arms and hands over all those responsible and involved in the massacre on October 7. The Mossad head also presented a proposal at the meeting with an outline for resuming negotiations on a deal for the release of about 40 hostages, Israeli officials said.
Officials stated that the group that Israel is working to release includes women who remain captives of Hamas, men over the age of 60, and hostages who suffer from life-threatening illnesses or serious injuries and need urgent medical treatment.
This is the first offer Israel has made since the termination of the last pause of fighting in Gaza in November. Senior Israeli officials say that the proposal reflects Israel's determination to restart serious negotiations on the release of hostages despite the opposition expressed by Hamas. About 130 Israeli citizens and foreigners are still being held hostage in Gaza; White House spokesman John Kirby said that among them are eight Americans.
As part of the new proposal, officials said Israel expressed a willingness to agree in exchange for a temporary ceasefire of at least a week. For comparison, in the previous agreement, Israel agreed to a week-long truce in exchange for the release of 80 hostages.
Senior Israeli officials stated that Israel also expressed a willingness to release Palestinian prisoners who were convicted of more serious attacks than those released in the previous deal. According to them, in Israeli prisons, there are a significant number of such prisoners who are old or who suffer from serious illnesses, and they can be released on a humanitarian basis.
What are these officials really saying?
A senior Israeli official said that the Israeli message at the meeting in Warsaw was that Qatar should pressure Hamas to return to the negotiating table.
"This is a test for the Qatari mediation. If they want to show that they can play a useful role, now is the time to do so. Our expectation is that serious negotiations will resume as soon as possible," said the Israeli official.
A foreign source privy to the talks said that Qatar is working hard to try and renew the negotiations, but he emphasized that the Israeli demands from Hamas and the Israeli messages about what needs to happen for the war to end greatly complicate the situation.