The Katar edition of Al-Arab al-Jadid, citing the Egyptian source, reported that Hamas expressed his readiness to free nine hostages held in gas. The publication notes that the United States insists on increasing the number of freed hostages.
At the same time, Al-Arab al-Jadid writes that the delegation of Hamas leaves Cairo without reaching an agreement. But there is an agreement on the continuation of negotiations.
On April 13-14, negotiations were held in Cairo between representatives of Hamas and Egypt. The delegation of Hamas was headed by a member of the Politburo of this terrorist organization Khalil al-Haya. Egyptian negotiators were headed by Major General Hasan Mahmud Rashad, head of the general intelligence service (GIS).
A source in the leadership of Hamas in an interview with Al-Arab al-Jadid denied rumors about readiness to give weapons, emphasizing that this weapon “belongs to the Palestinian people.” This source explained that “in general, recently many proposals have been put forward to fulfill the conditions of Israel in relation to weapons and resistance leaders.” “These are proposals that unanimously rejected all the resistance fractions, and not just Hamas,” he said.
The Egyptian source said that negotiations included contacts with representatives of the American intermediary, saying that Hamas expressed his readiness to agree to the release of nine hostages. Representatives of the US administration demanded an increase in the number of released hostages, assuring that this would push Israel to negotiations on the second phase of the transaction.
The formula proposed by the American side was not adopted by the Hamas delegation, since it did not contain specific guarantees, a source in Hamas said.
At the same time, the Egyptian source noted: the American side said that if Hamas agrees to free 11 or more live hostages in two stages, then negotiations on the transition to the next stage of the transaction will begin at the second stage. It is noted that Hamas insists on the complete and final termination of military operations in Gaza. But such a scenario is not satisfied with the Israeli authorities who do not agree that Hamas retain power and influence in Gaza after the war.
Earlier, the Al-Arabiya channel reported that Hamas renounced to provide Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries with a detailed report on the state of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza. In addition, it was argued that Hamas in negotiations in Cairo expressed his readiness to free “more hostages than originally stipulated.” The number of hostages that can be released, no details in the exchange format were given. Judging by the publication of Al-Arabia, Hamas agrees to the option of “exchanging prisoners”, which will take place in two stages. In addition, Al-Arabia reported that the United States is ready to put pressure on Israel so that a new proposal to settle the gas was accepted. It was also noted that the discussion of the issue of whether Hamas’s leaders will be able to stay in Gaza, it was decided to postpone it until the next stage of consultations.
Publications “Al-Arabi al-Jadid” and “Al-Arabia” do not contradict each other.
On Sunday, April 13, the delegation of the leadership of the terrorist organization Hamas arrived in Cairo for negotiations with representatives of Egypt regarding the next proposal for settlement in gas. On the eve of the ASHARQ News television channel reported that representatives of Egypt and Israel exchanged new offers aimed at the ceasefire in the Gaza sector and the return of hostages withheld Hamas. The Egyptian proposal is a combination of previously presented initiatives from Cairo and Washington and “has prospects for promoting negotiations between conflicting parties and achieving real progress on them in the very near future,” wrote TASS.
The project presented by Egypt, according to the Egyptian agency of Maan, is “close to being accepted by the Israeli side both in relation to the hostage and Palestinian prisoners, which should be released from the prisons of Israel.”
The initiative of Cairo involves Hamas’s transfer to eight or nine living hostages, including Idan Aleksander, as well as the bodies of eight hostages who died in Gaza, who has the citizens of Israel and the USA. Israel, according to the Egyptian plan, should release several hundred prisoners, including 150 serving life imprisonment. During this period, which will last 50 days, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the population of the Gaza will be restored. The period of the ceasefire can be extended up to 70 days to guaranteed the resumption of indirect negotiations between the parties to the conflict at the second stage of the agreement, which determines the termination of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza.
Note that this proposal differs from what Cairo proposed at the beginning of the week.
On the eve of negotiations in Cairo, the leadership of Hamas continued to insist on its version of a possible agreement: the liberation of hostages (living and dead) in exchange for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza sector (for international guarantees), as well as in exchange for the liberation of Israeli prisons convicted of terror. Such a scenario involves the preservation of Hamas power in Gaza. Such a scenario categorically does not suit Israel.