'Imminent': Hostage deal could be signed by end of week, Hamas official says

The official for the terror group reportedly claimed the main factors had been agreed upon. 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 18, 2024 08:47 Updated: DECEMBER 18, 2024 09:18

Hamas terrorist in front of Gaza hostage posters. (Illustrative) (photo credit: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via REUTERS, MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)

If no issues arise, a hostage deal could be signed by the end of this week, the Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Wednesday, citing a Hamas official.

The official for the terror group reportedly added that a deal was "imminent," with the main points having already been agreed upon.

According to the report, in the first stage of the agreement, which is supposed to last some 45-60 days, Hamas would release some 30 hostages, both alive and deceased, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In addition, IDF troops would withdraw from cities within the Gaza Strip.

However, they would remain in the Philadelphi and Netazrim corridors. These corridors run parallel to the border with Egypt and cut across central Gaza, respectively.

A woman stands next to posters with photos of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 20, 2024. (credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS)

Palestinian women and children would be allowed to return to northern Gaza.

On Tuesday, officials with knowledge of the negotiations told The Jerusalem Post that a hostage deal could be achieved within a month, with significant advances being made.

Hostage deal reportedly 'closer than ever'

This follows a Tuesday Washington Post report, citing a Hamas official, which claimed the terror group had ceded its demands that the war ends and that Israeli troops withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the framework of a hostage deal.

"There is a noticeable shift in public opinion,” a Hamas member was quoted as saying by the publication, adding, “There is now a strong desire to end the war at any cost.”

On Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said a hostage deal was closer than ever.

---

---

Such a remark was reiterated by a senior Hamas official, cited in the Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat.

“We are closer than ever to reaching a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire, provided that Netanyahu does not obstruct the agreement,” he reportedly said.

Amichai Stein, Sam Halpern and Raquel Guertzenstein Frohlich contributed to this report.