Israeli officials doubt Hamas will accept proposed US plan for prisoner exchange, cease-fire

JERUSALEM

Israeli officials say the chances of Hamas agreeing to a US plan for a proposed prisoner exchange and cease-fire are not good, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

A new proposal presented in Cairo recommended that a cease-fire plan be implemented in three stages, including the conditional return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, a Palestinian source familiar with peace talks said on Monday.

"Israel is still awaiting Hamas's response to the US proposal for the exchange deal,'' Israel's public broadcaster reported.

It added: "Officials in the government conveyed a message to the rest of the Cabinet ministers indicating that Hamas' potential agreement to a deal proposed by the mediators is fading.''

Citing unnamed political sources, the broadcaster reported: “One of the main disputes concerns Israel's demand for the release of 40 hostages in the first stage, including the elderly and women.''

It also said: "While Hamas claims to not have 40 hostages meeting these criteria, it offered to release a smaller number.''

There has been no comment from Hamas on the Israeli broadcaster's statements as yet.

Hamas is estimated to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, while Tel Aviv is holding more than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

A temporary deal last November saw the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 33,300 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now on day 186, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul