Israel has significantly softened its stance on the conditions for a hostage deal with Hamas, raising hopes of a breakthrough in diplomatic efforts to end the war in Gaza.
After weeks of deadlock, Israel has accepted a proposal that sets out an initial six-week pause in the fighting during which Hamas would release 33 hostages, said a diplomat briefed on the talks. This would include children, the elderly, women, including female soldiers, and wounded captives.
That would be followed by a second phase that calls for “restoring a sustainable calm”, wording proposed by the US, the diplomat said. Mediators hope this would overcome the main hurdle to a deal — Hamas’s insistence on a permanent ceasefire at the end of any arrangement, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly rejected.
Israel has also made concessions on other Hamas demands, including allowing Gazans to return to the besieged strip’s north. “It’s very positive,” the diplomat said.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Monday that Hamas had before it “a proposal that is extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel”.
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