Is a hostage deal imminent?

Hamas officials have told Arab outlets that the main issues have been resolved; diplomats say there’s a way to go.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

There are conflicting reports over whether a hostage deal is “imminent,” as Hamas officials have labeled it in recent days.

Lebanese paper Al-Akhbar reported Thursday that according to Hamas officials, “The state of the negotiations underway in Doha is excellent, and most of the issues in dispute have been resolved, so it is possible that we will very soon have an agreement.”

Israeli negotiators have been talking with Hamas and American officials in Qatar since Monday, with CIA director Bill Burns flying in on Wednesday.

Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat reported Wednesday that Hamas officials have said an agreement was “imminent” and could be signed by the end of the week.

The London-based paper said that in the first of three stages, lasting 45-60 days, Hamas would free about 30 hostages, both alive and dead.

The Saudi Al-Hadath TV channel cited sources saying that the ill, elderly, and all female hostages, including soldiers, would be included in this stage.

In exchange, the IDF would leave Gazan cities, northern Gaza residents would be allowed to return home and Israel would release an as-yet unknown number of Palestinian prisoners, although it is reportedly in the hundreds.

At this stage, some reports stated that the IDF would still stay in the vital Philadelphi Corridor on the Egyptian-Gazan border, through and under which Hamas received the vast majority of its arms, and the Netzarim Corridor that the IDF created for security reasons and divides Gaza roughly in half.

A Hamas official told AFP that the army would “partly withdraw” from these by-now well-paved and wide roads, which in the case of Netzarim is also dotted with watchtowers.

Hamas has reportedly agreed that a full IDF withdrawal from the coastal enclave can remain for the last stage of the deal.

According to Al-Akhbar, disagreement still remains over Israel’s demand for a comprehensive list of both the living and dead hostages, with Hamas saying that it cannot hand one over until there is a week of quiet so that they can reach the abductees and confirm their status.

A second point of reported contention is that Israel wants wounded male soldiers to be released in the first stage, while Hamas wants to hold all male soldiers for the second stage, in which the remaining dead bodies would also be released.

Along with another batch of Palestinian prisoners, at least a hundred terrorists “with long-term sentences” would be freed by Israel at this stage, the AFP report stated.

Terrorists approved for release but who are serving heavy sentences for their lethal attacks would reportedly be deported to Qatar and Turkey, and not return to the Gaza Strip as Hamas originally demanded.

Negotiations are simultaneously taking place in Cairo, with Egyptian security sources saying that one sticking point is that Hamas is demanding international guarantees that the temporary ceasefire will lead to a permanent end to the war in the third stage.

While top Israeli government officials such as Defense Minister Yisrael Katz have said the two sides are closer than ever, and Washington has expressed “cautious optimism,” diplomats involved with the talks have cautioned against believing that it is only a short step away.

A source told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that Hamas has not given the Israelis either a list of those the terror organization is ready to free, or one with the names of the prisoners it wants in exchange.

None of the international guarantors mentioned by the Hamas official to AFP – Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, the UN and the U.S. – confirmed their participation, the news agency said.

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