Hamas Palestinian resistance movement has offered a counterproposal on a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza after more than four months on a brutal Israeli war on the besieged enclave.
Reports said that according to the plan Israeli detainees held by Palestinian resistance would go free, the Zionist entity would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.
Hamas’ proposal is a response to an Israeli offer sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Reuters news agency reported that Hamas counterproposal envisages three phases of a truce, lasting 45 days each.
Citing a draft document, the news agency added that Hamas would exchange remaining Israeli hostages they captured during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 for Palestinian prisoners. The reconstruction of Gaza would begin, Israeli forces would withdraw completely, and bodies and remains would be exchanged.
According to the document, during the first 45-day phase, all Israeli female hostages, males under 19 and the elderly and sick would be released, in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails. The Zionist entity would also withdraw its troops from populated areas during the first phase.
Implementation of the second phase would not begin until the sides conclude “indirect talks over the requirements needed to end the mutual military operations and return to complete calm,” Reuters added, citing the document.
The second phase would include the release of remaining male hostages and “the withdrawal of Israeli forces outside the borders of all areas of the Gaza Strip”.
Bodies and remains would be exchanged during the third phase. The truce would also increase the flow of food and other aid to Gaza’s desperate civilians, who are facing hunger and dire shortages of basic supplies.
“A source close to the negotiations said the Hamas counterproposal did not require a guarantee of a permanent ceasefire at the outset, but that an end to the war would have to be agreed during the truce before the final hostages were freed,” Reuters noted.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Tuesday overnight in the Zionist entity after meeting the leaders of mediators Qatar and Egypt in the most serious diplomatic push of the war so far aimed at reaching an extended truce.
More Details on First Phase
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera offered more details on the first phase, quoting sources within Hamas.
During the first phase, Hamas would release Israeli detainees, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick, in exchange for 1,500 prisoners. These would include 500 Palestinians who received life sentences and long sentences as well as all women, children, and elderly people held in Israeli prisons, the Doha-based channel reported.
The Palestinian resistance group demanded that at least 500 trucks of aid and fuel be brought daily into all areas of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas demanded the return of displaced Palestinians to their places of residence, the guarantee of freedom of movement between the north and south of the Gaza Strip, and the opening of the crossings, according to Al-Jazeera.
Hamas also demanded that at least 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 shelter tents be allowed to be constructed in the Strip during the first phase.
Additional approvals would be required for a plan to reconstruct homes, economic facilities and public facilities that were destroyed within three years.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
