Hamas Reviewing Israeli Ceasefire/Hostage Release Proposal
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Hamas is understood to be considering a proposal by Israel for a cease-fire in the Gaza war triggered by the Islamic terror group’s massacre and kidnapping of Israelis on Oct. 7 last year, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement Saturday, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said Israel’s latest proposal was a response to its own proposal made two weeks ago, AP reports.
While no details as to Israel’s offer were forthcoming, recent negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar as well as the United States have centered on an initial-phase release of some 40 of the 136 remaining Israeli hostages, with women, children and the sick expected to be freed first.
In exchange for hostages, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including terrorists convicted of violence against Israelis. Hamas leader Yaha Sinwar, a mastermind behind the Oct. 7 massacre, was released in a similar deal in 2011 when Israel freed him and 1,026 others in exchange for captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Israeli and Egyptian negotiators further discussed a six-week cease-fire and the return of a number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimum restrictions,” an Egyptian official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AP.
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