Posted on 07/03/24
| News Source: JPost
Israel is studying the latest Hamas response to a three-phase proposal to secure the release of the remaining 120 hostages in Gaza, the Mossad said in an unusual statement on Wednesday night.
“The hostages deal mediators have conveyed to the negotiating team Hamas's remarks on the outline of the hostages deal."
“Israel is evaluating the remarks and will convey its reply to the mediators,” it said.
A Hamas source said on Wednesday that the group exchanged "some ideas" with mediators on how to end the war in Gaza.
The hostage deal has been mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with the support of the United States. US President Joe Biden, however, has personally taken the diplomatic lead on the hostage deal, unveiling the latest proposal from the White House on May 31. The United States also secured the support of the United Nations Security Council for the deal.
The United States has said in the past that Hamas had rejected the proposal Biden laid out, but it has pressed the terror group to reconsider. American officials have said that the US with the help of Egypt and Qatar is looking to close the gaps.
An Israeli security source said that “Hamas continues to insist on a principle clause in the outline that would prevent Israel from returning to fight after phase one of the proposal, something that is unacceptable to Israel.”
“There are other gaps that have not yet been closed,” the source said.
“Israel will continue negotiations while continuing the military and diplomatic pressure to bring about the release of all 120 of our hostages, both living and dead,” the source stated.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad said earlier in the day that some of the hostages had tried to kill themselves in desperation.
"Some enemy prisoners have attempted suicide as a result of the extreme frustration they are feeling due to their government's neglect of their cause," Al Quds Brigades spokesperson Abu Hamza said in a post on Telegram.
"We will keep treating Israeli hostages the same way Israel treats our prisoners," he added.
The Palestinian militant group did not specify what measures it had taken against Israeli hostages. The PIJ and Hamas have drawn an equivalency between the hostages seized from Israeli territory during the October 7 attack and Palestinians jailed by Israel for security offenses, including terror attacks.
All hostage deal proposals have included the exchange of hostages for the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
But the stumbling block has remained Hamas’s insistence on a permanent ceasefire before the start of the three-phased deal, which allows in the first stage for a lull in the fighting in exchange for the release of 33 of the hostages. The issue of a permanent ceasefire would only be decided on prior to the start of the second phase.