Israel is for the first time considering ending the war in Gaza as part of a hostage deal even if Hamas is not eradicated, officials say.
The Jewish state’s new cease-fire proposal is to see the more than 130 hostages remaining in Gaza freed in exchange for a willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” in the Palestinian enclave, two Israeli officials told Axios.
It’s the first time in the nearly seven-month-long war that Israel has suggested it is open to ending the conflict as part of a hostage deal without wiping out the Palestinian terror group, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted.
Under the plan, formulated with Egyptian mediators last week, 20 hostages would be released in exchange for the freedom of about 500 Palestinian prisoners over an initial three-week truce, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The proposed deal would prioritize the release of female, sick and elderly hostages. The 20 hostages would also be half the number Israel previously called for after Hamas’ claims that it did not have 40 hostages who met that criteria.
The exchange would then be followed by a 10-week cease-fire to allow the two sides to continue negotiations.
Along with the hostage exchange, the latest proposal would allow displaced Palestinian to return to their homes in northern Gaza, the majority of which have been damaged or destroyed by the fighting.
Hamas, which made the Israel Defense Force’s withdrawal from Gaza a key sticking point in the cease-fire negotiations, is expected to deliver its response to mediators in Cairo on Monday.
Netanyahu has seen continued pressure to reach a deal with the terrorist group as protests for the hostages’ immediate release continue at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, has gone as far as to suggest that the prime minister’s government should be dissolved if it prioritizes the looming Rafah invasion over a hostage deal, but he stopped short of calling for an end to the war.
“If a responsible outline for the return of the hostages is reached with the backing of the entire security establishment, which does not entail the end of the war, and the ministers who led the government on Oct. 7 prevent it, the government will not have the right to continue to exist,” Gantz said in a statement.
The tense negotiations and Egypt’s eagerness to reach a deal come as the IDF is preparing to enter Rafa, Gaza’s now most populous city sheltering more than 1 million refugees.
Egypt, which shares a border with Rafa, has warned of “catastrophic consequences” should the Israeli military move into the city, where four Hamas battalions are located.
With Post wires
