The negotiations to reach a Stop the fire on the Strip Loop progress positively and are approaching an agreement in principle, although the parties have not yet closed any definitive pact, sources familiar with the talks taking place in Cairo reported this Saturday.
A Palestinian source said, on condition of anonymity, that “there is great progress in the negotiations between the Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel“, and explained that the Egyptian delegation in the negotiating process “has reached a agreed formulation regarding points of disagreement“.
He specified that the latest agreement they are currently discussing includes a first phase of 40 days of truce in which 33 hostages will be released from the total of some 128 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, while the Israeli Army will withdraw from the areas in which it is present in the Gaza Strip.
According to this same source, the second phase will continue for another period of 42 days during which all remaining hostages will be released and a process of “permanent calm in Gaza” will be extended, while the third and final phase will include exchanging the bodies and will also last 42 days.
He also noted that “(Sinwar) wants a American commitment in writing for the unconditional end of the fighting” and also requests that Israel not prevent the Palestinians released in exchange for the hostages from returning to the occupied West Bank territory.
According to a senior Hamas official quoted by the Qatari network Al Jazeera, the fact that Netanyahu insist that Israel will enter the city of Rafah regardless of a possible agreement is a “key element” that is also being discussed today in the talks.
So far, in the Palestinian enclave, at least 32 people have died in the last 24 hours, bringing to 34,654 the number of fatalities registered in the hospitals of the enclave, in addition to more than 77,900 wounded, according to data from the Gazan Ministry of Health, dependent on Hamas.
