Israel will send a delegation to Doha, Qatar, as part of negotiations around an exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a statement on Friday.
42 hostages could be freed
Israel did not send representatives last week to Cairo where the mediating countries – United States, Qatar, Egypt – met with a Hamas delegation. “An Israeli delegation will leave for Doha after (a meeting on Friday) of the security cabinet to discuss Israel’s position” on the conditions of a possible agreement with Hamas on the hostages, the statement said, without specifying when this delegation will fly to Doha. This announcement comes as Hamas has just changed its position.
Hamas, which until now demanded a definitive ceasefire in Gaza before any agreement on the hostages, is now ready for a six-week truce, one of its officials told AFP. Under the truce, 42 hostages — women, including soldiers, children, the elderly and the sick — could be released in exchange for 20 to 50 Palestinian prisoners, depending on whether the hostages are civilians or soldiers, and at the rate of one hostage per day, added this official on condition of anonymity.
Around 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza during the unprecedented attack on October 7 by Hamas commandos in southern Israel, which left at least 1,160 people dead. most civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. According to Israel, 130 hostages from October 7 are still detained in Gaza, of whom 32 are believed to be dead. The Israeli military operation launched in retaliation for the October 7 attack has so far left nearly 31,500 dead, according to Hamas.