Israel, Hamas working toward month-long ceasefire agreement

Israel and Hamas are reportedly working toward brokering a month-long ceasefire to allow for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners — but the deal is being held up by the two sides’ inability to agree on how to end the nearly four-month-old war.

Israel and Hamas seem to be nearing an agreement to release Israeli hostages in return for a break in the violence, the release of Palestinian prisoners and additional aid for Gaza, three anonymous officials told Reuters.

The release of the over 130 hostages still captive in Gaza would be done in stages, prioritizing Israeli civilians and ending with soldiers.

The agreement follows what one source called “intensive” mediation talks led by Qatar, Washington and Egypt.

Hamas first proposed a break of several months, one source claimed, though Israel disagreed and the timeframe was lowered to about 30 days.

The sparring groups also cannot agree on how much they want to negotiate at a time, with Hamas refusing to move forward until the future conditions of a permanent ceasefire are determined, while Israel just wants to negotiate one stage at a time, several sources told the outlet.

Hamas hopes to get “a package deal” agreement to a permanent ceasefire before they agree to release any of the hostages, a Palestinian official involved in mediation efforts said. Israel and Hamas are in contact solely through mediators.

US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk was in the region Tuesday — for the second time in a week — for discussions about releasing hostages, a White House spokesperson said.

Those involved in the mediation process said they were working to convince Hamas to accept a one-month truce followed by a permanent ceasefire — a deal Hamas has refused without guarantees that Israel will not restart the conflict.

Senior Hamas official Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group was open to discussion but a deal had not yet been set.

“We are open to all initiatives and proposals, but any agreement must be based on ending the aggression and the occupation’s complete pullout from Gaza Strip,” Zuhri said.

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Israel allegedly offered to end the war if Hamas removed six senior officials from Gaza, though Hamas “absolutely” rejected the proposal, an anonymous Hamas official told Reuters.

Included on the list were Yahya Sinwar and Mohamed al-Deif, who are the masterminds of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack and now are believed to be hiding deep within the extensive network of tunnels below Gaza.

The shocking onslaught in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, while Israel’s response has killed over 25,000 Palestinians.

A week-long truce in November led to the release of over 100 hostages and around 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel and Hamas began negotiating another break in the fighting on Dec. 28.

Despite the two sides holding strong to their positions, one of the sources said a deal could be reached “at any minute.”

With Post wires