Doha, Feb. 6 (EFE) – Qatar’s mediation team on Tuesday received a “positive” response from the Islamist group Hamas regarding the proposed agreement for the release of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.
“I would like to inform the media that we have received a reply from Hamas with regards to the general framework of the agreement with regard to hostages,” the Qatari minister said at a press conference in Doha with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Sheikh Mohammed, who declined to give details “given the sensitivity of the circumstances,” said he was “optimistic” and that Hamas’ response had already been delivered to Israel.
Blinken added that the United States is reviewing the Hamas response and that he’ll be “discussing (it) with the government of Israel tomorrow.”
Although the details of the draft agreement have not been made public, recent leaked information suggests that Hamas will release the 136 hostages it has been holding for 142 days, some of whom have been killed, in exchange for the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners per hostage.
Blinken said the deal “was aimed at not simply repeating the previous agreement, but expanding it,” referring to the deal that led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners and a nine-day cease-fire in late November.
However, the Islamist group is demanding an Israeli commitment to agree to a permanent cease-fire to end the war as a starting point to a new hostage release deal, something Israel is unwilling to accept because its goal is to dismantle Hamas.
“We will not end the war before we complete all of its goals: the elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the weekend.
And insisted that Israel “not accept any agreement, or at any price.”
The proposed agreement was forged a week ago in Paris by representatives of Israel, the United States, and the main mediators in the conflict: Egypt and Qatar. EFE
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