US and UK officials are pushing Hamas to accept a “generous” 40-day cease-fire proposal from Israel that would reportedly see 33 hostages in Gaza freed in exchange for “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Palestinian terror group was handed the proposal, which was hammered out with the help of negotiators, ahead of a Hamas delegation’s trip to Cairo on Monday.
The terrorists’ delegation is expected to quickly respond to the latest proposed deal seeking to quell Israel’s nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Blinken said at a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia. “And in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.
“They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly,” he added. “I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.”
Blinken was joined by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who was also at the forum in Riyadh, in urging Hamas to accept the deal.
‘[It’s] a very generous offer of sustained 40 days cease-fire, the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, in return for the release of these hostages”, Cameron said.
“I hope Hamas do take this deal, and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes in the world should be on them today saying, ‘Take that deal, ‘” he added.
The latest deal seeks the freedom of 33 captives in exchange for a mass release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, three Israeli officials told the New York Times. The proposed deal would prioritize the release of female, sick and elderly hostages.
The proposed 33 freed captives would be fewer than the 40 Israel previously called for. Hamas has claimed that does not have that many hostages who meet the deal’s criteria.
The exchange would then be followed by a 10-week cease-fire to allow the two sides to continue negotiations.
Along with the hostage exchange, the latest proposal would also allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza, the majority of which have been damaged or destroyed by the fighting.
The Jewish state also appears to be making one more key concession, which would see the second phase of the truce establish a “period of sustained calm” in Gaza.
The condition suggests that Israel would withdraw and potentially end its war campaign in Gaza as part of the hostage deal even if Hamas is not eradicated, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted would not happen.
Hamas has made the Israel Defense Force’s withdrawal from Gaza a key sticking point in the cease-fire negotiations.
With Post wires
