The Hamas delegation, headed by Political Bureau member Khalil al-Hayya, is scheduled to head to Cairo tomorrow, Monday, to discuss the latest proposal presented by Egypt in order to reach an agreement between Hamas and Israel to stop the Gaza war and conclude a deal to exchange prisoners and detainees.
Informed sources told Al-Sharq Channel that the new Egyptian proposal, which was formulated in agreement with Israel, during the recent visit made by an Egyptian delegation to Tel Aviv on Friday, carries some progress, especially in the field of the return of the displaced to the north and the Israeli occupation forces moving a sufficient distance from the road. Which returnees will take.
Read also: Details of the new Egyptian proposal – which includes important concessions
The previous negotiating paper set the distance that the Israeli army would move away from Al-Rashid Street, which the returnees would take, in the first stage, at 500 meters, while Hamas demanded that the army move away until Salah Al-Din Street, which is 3.7 kilometers away from Al-Rashid Street.
The sources said that the new Egyptian paper presented a compromise solution.
Prisoner exchange
The paper also stipulated an exchange of civilian prisoners and female soldiers, in the first stage, according to the numbers available to the Hamas movement, and not a requirement for the release of 40 Israeli detainees, as stated in the previous paper.
The new paper specifies the numbers and categories of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for Israeli detainees, who are expected to number about 33 detainees.
Israel had previously offered to release 900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 40 detainees, including civilians and female soldiers, including 100 sentenced to life imprisonment.
But Hamas demanded that Israel release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli civilian, and that the Palestinian prisoners be selected according to the principle of seniority, so that those who spent the longest period of detention would be released successively according to the aforementioned number.
As for female soldiers, Hamas demanded the release of 50 prisoners for every female soldier, including 30 who were sentenced to life imprisonment, which the movement calls them.
The sources said that the Heliopolis Paper presented a compromise proposal in this regard.
Duration of the truce
The new Egyptian paper specified the period of the truce in this first phase, according to the Paris process, at six weeks, during which the second phase would be negotiated.
According to sources in Hamas, the movement is satisfied with the progress contained in the new paper in the field of the return of the displaced and the distance within which it will be withdrawn, but it demands that it include a text regarding stopping the war or sustainable calm and Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip at the end of the negotiating process.
The movement’s delegation will also discuss the proposed numbers and categories of Palestinian prisoners who will be released at this stage.
