US joins other nations in Israel peace talks that demand the release of the 132 hostages and the end of the war in Gaza, report says
Officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar have presented Israel and Hamas with a 90-day proposal. The plan involves three phases - with phase one being the release of all Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and IDF concessions
By Laura Parnaby
Daily Mail
Jan 21, 2024
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamas al-Thani shakes hands with Blinken during the Secretary of State's round of strategic talks to assure Arab leaders that the US will continue to demand that Israel lowers the intensity of the Gaza war, January 7, 2024
The US has reportedly joined other nations in a renewed attempt to secure the release of the 132 hostages still in Gaza in return for an end to the war.
Diplomats involved in the talks told the Wall Street Journal that officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar have presented Israel and Hamas with a 90-day proposal that involves three phases.
The first phase involves a long pause in fighting while both sides release hostages. For Hamas, that means freeing all of the remaining civilians detained on October 7, while Israel would need to emancipate hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
During the first phase, the IDF would also withdraw forces from Gaza's towns and cities, end drone surveillance and double the amount of aid going into the region.
Talks are set to continue in Cairo over the coming days, the diplomats said.
Palestinian terrorists in the Ofer Prison facility near Ramallah.
Palestinian prisoners wait in November to be released from Ketziot prison, southern Israel,
It comes after previous negotiations broke down on November 30 during a week-long ceasefire in return for the phased release of around 100 Israeli hostages and 300 Palestinian prisoners.
Neither Israel nor Hamas has agreed to the terms of the new proposals, and Taher Al-Nono, representing Hamas, told the WSJ that no real progress has been made.
But the two parties' 'willingness to discuss the framework was a positive step,' one anonymous diplomat involved told the newspaper.
Egyptian officials said Israeli negotiators are keen for a two-week ceasefire to allow for a second hostage-prisoner exchange, but they're reluctant to discuss the possibility of a permanent end to the war.
Meanwhile, Hamas negotiators are using the hostages to their full advantage - saying they will only be released in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners and a permanent ceasefire.
The militant group has also said the reality of the previous short-term hostage deal was disappointing - with less aid than promised reaching Gaza and many of its prisoners getting re-incarcerated.
If the first stage of the 90-day plan succeed, negotiators would move to phase two.
In this phase, Hamas would free female Israeli soldiers and return the bodies of those who have died in the conflict, in exchange for Israel returning more Palestinian prisoners.
A mourner in Reim, southern Israel beside photos of people who were killed and kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on January 21
Phase three would involve the release of Israeli soldiers and fighting-age men in return for Israel moving its forces outside the current borders of the Gaza Strip.
A permanent ceasefire would eventually follow, and the re-launching of the process to outline agreed borders of the Palestinian state.
Egyptian officials said an international fund for the reconstruction of Gaza and safety guarantees for Hamas political leaders have also been tabled.
The tentative negotiations are the latest development in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which spiraled into a full-scale invasion of Gaza following the horrific October 7 Hamas attack.
Israel said the attack killed around 1,200 civilians, and that many were raped, tortured and abused.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation, and began relentless strikes on the Gaza Strip that have so far killed more than 25,000 Palestinians.
DailyMail.com has contacted the White House for comment on the latest negotiations, but the office did not immediately respond.
Hamas released a video showing hostage Noa Argamani explaining how Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirski were killed in captivity
The world watched in horror as a video emerged of Noa Argamani, 26, sitting on the back of a motorbike as she screamed 'Don't kill me' to the men surrounding her during Hamas's attacks on Israel in October
Itai Svirski has allegedly been killed while being held captive by Hamas
Yossi Sharabi was allegedly killed after the building the hostages were housed in was hit by an Israeli airstrike
The relaunch of negotiations also follows the release of a chilling video by Hamas showing 26-year-old hostage Noa Argamani being forced to say two of her fellow captives were dead.
Argamani says they were killed by IDF strikes in the January 15 video. The footage followed another video posted that day in which Hamas claimed they would reveal which of the three hostages is still alive.
In the footage they asked viewers 'what do you think?' - referring to the fate of the Nova festival attendee Ms Argamani, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38.
Videos of their
capture from the peace festival horrified the world, with Argmani shown
horrified as a Hamas militant stole her away on a motorbike.
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