Israel, Hamas agree on basic points for truce
Baku, March 5, AZERTAC
Israel and Hamas have agreed on the basic points of a 40-day truce deal, according to knowledgeable Palestinian and Egyptian sources familiar with the ongoing talks in Cairo, EFE reported.
The two sides have on the exchange of 40 Israeli hostages for 404 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the sources told EFE, requesting anonymity as negotiations are still underway.
The agreement also includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from cities in Gaza and allowing the displaced Palestinians seeking refuge in Rafah, in the extreme south, to return to the northern and central regions of the enclave, the sources said.
The truce would also allow the entry of 500 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the enclave on a daily basis.
According to the sources, Israel did not promise to drop its planned invasion of Rafah since both parties were yet to comment on the truce.
The ceasefire is expected to come into force by Friday, just before the Muslim month of fasting begins on Sunday.
Despite the agreement on the above points, some discords prevented the official announcement of the deal.
One such, for example, is Hamas’ demand for the return of families and not individuals to the central and northern parts of the territory, a source said.
Likewise, there was no confirmation on whether the hostages who would be released include captives who have died, whose bodies are still under the control of Hamas, or the ones who are alive, the source added.
Names of the hostages held by Hamas are another point of disagreement, as the militant group has not provided the names of those held captive in Gaza.
Israel did not send any delegation to Cairo since it would only send a team to negotiate if Hamas released the list of hostages still alive.
Hamas said 70 hostages have been killed in Israeli bombings, but Israel has confirmed only 30 deaths of the 130 still held in the enclave.
Over 100 hostages were released during the temporary truce in late November.
Israeli forces have turned large swaths of land in the Gaza Strip to rubble, displaced over 80 percent of its population, and killed over 30,500, mostly children and women.
The attack came in retaliation to Hamas’ Oct.7 attack on southern Israel, where 1,200 were killed and over 250 taken hostage.
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