The armed wing of the Hamas militant group has declared that it discussed with Qatari mediators a deal to release up to seventy Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a five-day ceasefire.
“The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Monday it told Qatari mediators the group was ready to release up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in return for a five-day truce with Israel.
‘Last week there was an effort from the Qatari brothers to release the enemy captives from women and children, in return for the release of 200 Palestinian children and 75 women detained by the enemy’ Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, said in an audio recording posted on the group's Telegram channel.
‘The truce should include a complete ceasefire and allow aid and humanitarian relief everywhere in the Gaza Strip’, he said.
He accused Israel of ‘procrastinating and evading’ the price of the deal”. -Omar Abdel-Razek and Moaz Abdel-Aziz, Reuters
While the Islamic Resistance Movement has only released four of its captives thus far, including two American nationals, the Hamas organization asserts that some of the Israelis taken hostage during the October 7th assault on southern Israel were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
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| Posters depicting missing Israeli citizens with the word “kidnapped" |
The proposed armistice deal also comes as the director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned that it will cease operations unless fuel is permitted to enter into the Gaza Strip.