Gaza, “Cnn”: the proposal to Hamas includes a permanent truce and the release of up to 33 hostages

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has received a new proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, put forward by the Egyptian authorities and which provides for the release of 33 hostages kidnapped in Israel during the attack on 7 October. Anonymous sources reported this to the broadcaster “CNN”, adding that the proposed solution involves two phases. The first involves the release of “20 to 33 hostages” over the course of “several weeks”, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. The second refers to the “restoration of a situation of calm”, during which other Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages and Israeli soldiers. One of the sources specified that the “situation of calm” described in the proposal would refer to a “permanent ceasefire”.

The proposal represents a new attempt to overcome the months-long stalemate over a hostage agreement and truce in Gaza, ahead of an imminent Israeli operation in the city of Rafah, which currently hosts more than a million fleeing refugees. from the conflict. At the moment, the sources explained, the Israeli authorities are waiting for Hamas’ response to this new proposal. A delegation from the Palestinian Islamist movement is expected to meet mediators from Egypt and Qatar today in Cairo. A second source also added that a delegation from Israeli military and intelligence authorities was expected to arrive in the Egyptian capital tomorrow. Hamas’ response, he added, is expected “in the next few days, possibly even in the next 24 hours”.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Riyadh for the World Economic Forum (WEF) declared today that “an extraordinarily generous proposal” was presented to Hamas, without however going into the details reported by the sources to “CNN”. “Right now, the only obstacle separating the people of Gaza from a truce is Hamas: they have to decide, they have to do it quickly and I hope they do the right thing,” the head of US diplomacy told the president of the WEF, Borge Brende, in the Saudi capital.

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