A draft deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is nearing completion, with the details having been finalized and awaiting the terror group’s final approval. The announcement comes as Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated with his promise that all “hell would break loose” if the hostages were not released.
Mediator Qatar has handed Israel and Hamas a “final” draft agreement, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters. A breakthrough was reached in Doha after midnight following talks between Israel’s intelligence services chiefs, President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy and Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the official said.
An Israeli official subsequently denied to Reuters that Jerusalem received a draft proposal.
According to an outline published by Saudi outlet Al Arabiya, under the terms of the phased agreement Israel is to withdraw from specific areas of Gaza over 42 days, increase humanitarian aid and eventually withdraw fully from Gaza. The agreement also includes the release of 50 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences and the exchange of 50 “female prisoners” for each Israeli female soldier released.
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“We knew from the start that we were going to pay high prices for the hostages,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid told JNS at the faction meeting of his Yesh Atid Party at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday.
“These prices should be paid because there is no alternative; there is no other way of healing Israeli society, and that is when the hostages are home, safely, safe, and sound—all of them,” Lapid stated. “As a society, and as a people, and as a democracy, we are willing to pay the toll.”
The Hamas terrorist group is holding 98 hostages in Gaza, 94 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and four of whom were captured in 2014, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Thirty-six of the hostages Hamas is holding are deceased, including two from 2014.
Speaking on Fox News, incoming Vice President JD Vance shed some light on what Trump’s threats could mean in practice.
“It means enabling the Israelis to knock out the last couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership,” said Vance of Trump’s comments at the end of December.
“We’re hopeful there’s a deal that’s struck toward the very end of the Biden administration, maybe the last day or two,” he said. “But regardless of when that deal is struck, it will be because people are terrified that there are going to be consequences for Hamas.”
Vance was hopeful about the success of any agreement this week.
“Let’s allow our hostages to be set free. I want to see them walking across the tarmac, or at a minimum some type of agreement before inauguration, because President Trump is serious,” he added.
–JNS.org | used with permission
