After a senior Israeli official approved the framework for a potential hostage release deal, a government source in the Biden administration stated Sunday that the release of 80 women and children held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip is imminent.
Read more:
The U.S. official confirmed to NBC that discussions are ongoing, and in exchange for the release of the hostages, Palestinian women and youths from Israeli prisons could be freed in a possible deal. According to the official, Washington is also exploring alternative options.
1 View gallery
Protest calling for release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists
(Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad)
However, the U.S. official clarified that there is no certainty that a deal will be reached. Hours after NBC's report, a separate article in The Wall Street Journal cited two senior Egyptian officials who stated that talks on the hostage deal were suspended due to the current clashes near hospitals in Gaza. According to Egyptian sources, the main reason for the suspension of talks is the battles near Shifa Hospital, which according to Israel is used for a Hamas base, and has several tunnels situated beneath it.
Senior officials in Cairo, speaking to The Wall Street Journal, noted that high-ranking members of Hamas have conveyed to both Egypt and Qatar—the two main mediators in indirect talks between the terror organization and Israel—that the conduct of the IDF in recent battles seemingly indicates Israel is not interested in any deal. The American newspaper reports that negotiations for the release of hostages have been halted twice in the past.
Before the apparent suspension of talks, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, the outlined framework resembled that reported by NBC: the release of up to 100 women and children from captivity in Gaza, in exchange for Israel releasing approximately 100 women and minors from Israeli prisons. Additionally, a limited amount of fuel would be transferred to hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and there would be humanitarian gestures amid the war.