Israel-Hamas war: 100 to 250 Palestinian prisoners freed for every Israeli soldier? Hamas heads to Egypt to seek new cease-fire deal

It is a new hope and sure “last chance” For the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas, on October 7, 2023, in an attempt to regain their freedom, after the deadly attack on Israel.

This Wednesday, January 31, a delegation of the Palestinian Islamic Movement is expected in Cairo, Egypt to meet with the head of the Egyptian intelligence services, Abbas Kamel. The purpose of the meeting: to seek a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

A three-stage ceasefire

In detail, our colleagues at the Times of Israel explain that after negotiations with Israel, a negotiating proposal will be presented to the delegation and which provides for a three-stage ceasefire, without further details at the moment. .

Speaking to Reuters news agency, an unnamed Hamas official explained that eventually, this would make it possible to release all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The Arabic-language media al-Arabi al-Jadid cited a figure of 100 to 250 prisoners for every Israeli soldier.

First, the children, women, sick and elderly would then be freed by Hamas, then, secondly, the soldiers and finally the bodies of the hostages killed during their captivity.

During this operation, no military activity can take place on either side without specifying the duration of the ceasefire.

“The War Won’t End”

For its part, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced: “The Prime Minister’s position has not changed: the war will end only when all objectives are achieved, the Israeli army will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip and there is no question of freeing thousands of terrorists (…) reports that an agreement has been reached for the release of security prisoners Not true.”