An agreement is imminent, according to a source within Hamas for the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. If no new obstacles arise, the agreement can be signed by the end of the week, according to the official, who claims that the parties have already agreed on the main points of the agreement.
The ceasefire will begin with a phase lasting between 45 and 60 days. During that time, Hamas will release around 30 hostages – including both living and dead – from captivity in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Allowed to Stay
According to sources for The Washington Post, Hamas has abandoned several previous demands, including a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Now, the terrorist-listed Islamist movement is said to agree to Israel staying in the important land corridors Philadelphi and Netzarim.
Today, the head of the US intelligence agency CIA, William Burns, and Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani are meeting in Doha, according to Reuters sources. The hope is to bridge the remaining gaps between the parties in the pursuit of a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Abbas to Egypt
On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo for talks on an agreement with Hamas, but those reports were later denied by his spokesperson. Palestinian leader on the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days, according to the pro-Iranian Lebanese news agency al-Mayadeen.
The parties have not been as close as this since the ceasefire that was reached in November last year, claimed Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday.
Asharq al-Awsat's Hamas source makes the same assessment:
We are closer than ever to reaching an agreement on prisoner exchange and a ceasefire, unless Netanyahu blocks the agreement.
