Shortly after Israel announced initial indications of a possible new agreement regarding the prisoners held by Hamas since its attack on October 7th, a new informed Israeli source announced the issue.
Minor adjustments without a breakthrough!
The source explained that CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Paris next Friday, to hold talks with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials about the efforts made to reach an agreement to secure the release of the prisoners, according to the Axios website.
He added that officials in the administration of President Joe Biden want to reach an agreement before the beginning of the month of Ramadan, that is, within less than 3 weeks, in order to ensure a temporary ceasefire during the holy month.
However, he stressed that large gaps still exist regarding the proposed prisoner agreement, explaining that the current proposal pushed by Washington would lead to a cessation of fighting for at least 6 weeks.
The main sticking point centers around disagreements over the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and how to determine the list for the first phase of what could be a three-phase agreement.
The senior Israeli official pointed out that Hamas provided Egypt with a “verbal response” to the proposal, in which it agreed to “minor amendments” to its demands.
However, the official indicated that Hamas’s new response does not indicate a breakthrough.
While the movement did not announce details about the talks that took place this week in Cairo.
This comes at a time when Al Arabiya sources reported that the Hamas delegation visiting Cairo, headed by Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement’s political bureau, began consultations with Egyptian officials regarding the truce in Gaza.
This came after sources in the Palestinian factions revealed, earlier today, Wednesday, that a new path for calm in the Gaza Strip is being discussed in the Egyptian capital, which includes a calm for a period of 45 days and an increase in it for every Israeli detainee released.
Sources outside Gaza told the Arab World News Agency (AWP) that the new path proposes other stages to discuss a permanent ceasefire after the temporary truce in the first stage.
130 Israeli prisoners in Gaza
It is noteworthy that Hamas has repeatedly confirmed during the recent period that it will not accept any deal that does not include a complete ceasefire in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel offered to release all prisoners detained since October 7, in exchange for stopping its attack on Rafah.
The last prisoner exchange agreement between the two sides was concluded in late last November, which then led to the release of 105 Israeli prisoners held by Hamas on October 7, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons.
While 130 Israeli prisoners remain in Gaza, 30 of them are believed to have died, according to Israeli estimates.
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