Gaza: Hamas agrees to hostage negotiations in absence of permanent ceasefire

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that they were willing to negotiate on the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in the absence of a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “Hamas demanded Israel’s agreement to a complete and permanent ceasefire as a condition for negotiations,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, as the Gaza war entered its tenth month.

“This point has been overcome, with the mediators committing that as long as negotiations are ongoing, the ceasefire will remain in effect,” he added. “Hamas has retracted its condition for a permanent ceasefire and has agreed to enter into negotiations,” he said, as mediation efforts are being revived to reach a ceasefire.

“The ball is in the Israelis’ court”

According to the senior official, Hamas informed the mediators that it wanted to see three stages: first, the entry into Gaza of 400 aid trucks per day, then the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the “Philadelphia corridor and the Rafah crossing point”, which are located between southern Gaza and Egypt, and then a “final phase” consisting in particular of a complete withdrawal from Palestinian territory.

“The ball is in the Israelis’ court, if they want to reach an agreement, then it will most likely happen,” the source said, estimating that the talks could take “two to three weeks,” “if Israel does not block the negotiations as it has previously.” Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, had announced new “ideas” on Wednesday to end the war, relaunching the diplomatic marathon.

Israeli envoys will return to Doha in the coming days for talks with Qatari mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, stressing the persistence of “gaps” with Hamas. According to Egyptian media outlet Al-Qahera News, talks have begun in Egypt. The senior Hamas official said Sunday that there was “no date yet” for a Hamas delegation to visit Egypt.

Turkey is also making “great efforts,” he said. “A high-ranking delegation visited Turkey for talks last week,” he told AFP. The war was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a major military offensive in the Palestinian territory that has killed 38,153 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.