New Hamas Gaza truce proposal outlines exchange of captives for prisoners
Al Jazeera
With the war in its sixth month, Israel says plan presented to international mediators based on ‘unrealistic demands’.
Hamas has presented a new ceasefire plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza that includes the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences.
The Palestinian armed group said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, the elderly and ill captives in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, according to the proposal seen by the Reuters news agency. It includes the freeing of Israeli “female recruits”.
It would be a three-phased ceasefire, with each stage lasting 42 days, sources told Al Jazeera of the Hamas proposal.
In the first stage, Hamas said Israeli forces must withdraw from al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets to allow for the return of displaced Palestinians and the passage of aid, the sources said. Salah al-Din is the main arterial road that runs north to south in the strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that the new proposal was still based on “unrealistic demands”. Israel’s war cabinet and the larger security cabinet were to meet later on Friday to discuss the proposal, which Hamas submitted to international mediators.
