Written by: Vered Weiss
Article source: worldisraelnews.com
US negotiators are pushing for a longer ceasefire in the potential hostage release deal and are hoping to end Israel’s war with Gaza, The Wall Street Journal reports, in an agreement that would require the release of 150 jailed terrorists for every female IDF soldier released from captivity.
US and Arab officials have reported that the US wants the potential hostage deal, should it go through, to lead to a much longer truce than the initial six weeks stipulated.
CIA director William Burns said that it would be difficult for Israel to resume military operations at the same intensity following the temporary truce as required by the agreement negotiated in Paris.
The US officials said they were looking forward to the phase in which, after the hostages are released, Israel combats Hamas with targeted airstrikes rather than a full-scale ground operation.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “We are looking at an extended pause as the goal.”
He added, “How long, that’s all part of the discussions, but longer than what we saw in November, which was about a week.”
Although “nobody is doing a touchdown dance yet,” Kirby said he feels confident that all sides would agree to a cessation of fighting to release all hostages and allow humanitarian aid in.
Arab officials pointed to many obstacles to getting all sides to agree, but if the deal goes forward, it may take 7 to 10 days to work out the details.
The first draft of the current hostage deal was negotiated in Paris between security officials between Egypt, the US, Qatar, and Israel.
Although there seemed to be an impasse when Hamas said they would not agree to free any hostages without a permanent ceasefire and the release of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s jails, a condition Netanyahu rejected, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said he would go to Egypt to “study” the deal.
According to the latest reports, the deal will be carried out in several phases, beginning with a six-week pause in fighting and the release of civilian hostages to Israel in exchange for 3 Palestinian prisoners each.
In the second phase, female soldiers will be released, but with the agreement that Israel must free 150 terrorists for every freed hostage.
The third phase will involve the release of male soldiers and the bodies of those who died during captivity as well as during combat on October 7th.
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Date published: 02/02/2024
Feature image: IDF female commander from Havat Hashomer base. (Deborah Sinai/Flash90)
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