A dramatic report published today (Tuesday) indicates that Hamas has approved the draft hostage deal that the mediators delivered to the terror organization last night, according to the AP news agency.
Two sources involved in the talks confirmed the news to AP and added that the sides have come the closest ever to a deal since talks began between the terror organization and Israel under the mediators' auspices.
The AP news agency managed to obtain the draft agreement that was reportedly approved by Hamas, and sources from Egypt and Hamas confirmed that this is indeed the original draft.
However, an Israeli source tempered the excitement, saying that "progress has been made" and that the sides are in the final stage.
According to earlier reports today citing the BBC whose reporters spoke with a senior Hamas official, on the first day three hostages would be released, presumably women, as an Israeli diplomatic source briefed last night, and in exchange the IDF would begin withdrawing forces from populated areas in Gaza.
Additionally, in the week following the first phase, four more hostages would be released and Gazans would be allowed to return to their homes in northern Gaza via the coastal route.
The Hamas official added that Israel would release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, with about 200 of them serving sentences of more than 15 years.
According to reports, Israel would eventually withdraw completely from all of Gaza - including the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim Corridor, except for a buffer zone that Israel demands be one mile wide.
An Egyptian senior official who spoke with AP said that while Hamas was not given guarantees that the IDF would not resume fighting after the first phase ends, the mediators Qatar and Egypt committed to putting pressure on Israel not to resume fire.
Meanwhile, a senior diplomatic source recently said that "the AP report is incorrect, and that Hamas's response in Gaza has not yet been received."
As reported by the Times of Israel, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said, “We do believe that we are at the final stages… During the past months, there were major issues between the two parties unresolved [but] these issues were resolved during the talks in the past couple of weeks, and therefore we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed."
UPDATE:
The Saudi newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports that negotiators in Doha are finalizing details of a proposed Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement. According to the report, an announcement could come as early as today, barring any new obstacles or additional conditions from Israel. If reached, the agreement would take effect within 48 hours.
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