With the deal between Israel and Hamas being exchanged, the BBC reported today (Thursday) that Hamas had sent new demands and reservations about the deal. An Israeli source said these it was not clear what those demands were.
Despite this, Israeli diplomatic sources believe the crisis can be solved in talks, and that they expect the agreement to be implemented tomorrow. The war cabinet will thus convene this evening at 20:00 at the Kirya in Tel Aviv.
According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the reasons for Hamas’ delay in signing the deal is that Hamas did provide a list of names to senior Israeli officials, but while they provided the name, gender, and nation of most of them, there was a lack of information about the hostages’ medical condition, which complicates and is delaying the deal’s progress, according to an American source.
Another reason reported is Hamas’ insistence on various aspects of the ceasefire which are not acceptable. A diplomatic source explained that the delay is not essential but technical, and that the assessment in Israel is that these matters can be bridged and the deal carried out soon.
