Hamas accepts draft agreement for Gaza cease-fire and release of hostages, officials say

( NYPost )

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a cease-fire after 15 months of war that would soon see the release of an initial group of 33 hostages, officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.

Israeli officials said Monday night that they were in the “advanced stages of the negotiations” with the terror group, but details of the deal have not yet been finalized, the Times of Israel reported.

Qatar, a mediator in the talks, said Israel and Hamas were at the “closest point” yet to compromising.

The plan, a three-phase agreement set out by the US and endorsed by the UN Security Council, must be submitted to the Israeli cabinet for final approval before it can be enacted, according to the Associated Press, which received a copy of the draft.

It would begin with the gradual release of 33 hostages over six weeks, starting with women, children, the elderly and the wounded.

Israel, in return, would release potentially hundreds of imprisoned Palestinian women and children, according to the report.

The release would include five female Israeli soldiers who would be exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 convicted militants who are serving life sentences.

During the first phase, there would be a surge in humanitarian aid as Israeli forces withdraw from population centers and Palestinians start returning to their homes in northern Gaza.

By the end of the first phase, all civilians held captive — both alive and dead — will have been released, according to the report.

Details of the second phase will likely be negotiated during the first phase. While the deal does not include a written guarantee that the cease-fire will continue into the second phase, three mediators have given Hamas verbal guarantees that negotiations will continue as planned until a deal is met.

During this phase, Hamas would release the remaining living captives, mainly male soldiers, in exchange for more prisoners and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, according to the draft agreement.

Still, Hamas has said it will not free the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously vowed to keep fighting unless Hamas’ military and government capabilities are eliminated.

Unless an alternative government for Gaza is ironed out in the talks, that may leave Hamas in charge of the territory.

Meanwhile, the third phase of the plan would return the bodies of remaining hostages in exchange for a three- to five-year plan to rebuild Gaza.

Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 has long been seen as a deadline, with the president-elect warning Hamas there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages are not released.

President Biden has also pushed hard for the deal, stressing in a Sunday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “immediate need for a cease-fire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” the White House said.

Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, including seven Americans, in Gaza following the group’s 2023 attack on Israel.  

Up to half of them may be dead, according to officials.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials have claimed, though a study by UK-based Henry Jackson Society found that upward of 17,000 were Hamas terrorists.