The deal, the Israeli channel claimed, involves the release of several dozen Israeli captives in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile detainees.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday expressed support for a potential Gaza ceasefire agreement as well as a prisoner swap agreement with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, according to Israeli media.
During a meeting of his National Right Party, Sa’ar said, “I support efforts to secure a deal to release captives held in Gaza, as I believe most Israelis do. I’m more optimistic now than I was a month ago,” Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
The proposed agreement allegedly includes a ceasefire lasting two months or more, the media outlet claimed, adding that Hamas has agreed to a limited Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor (along Egypt’s border) as part of the deal, but no further details were provided.
Regarding the Netzarim Corridor, the plan may also allow thousands of Gazans to return to the northern parts of the besieged Strip after undergoing security checks, with Israel exploring ways to facilitate this movement, according to the report.
The deal, the channel claimed, involves the release of several dozen Israeli captives in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile detainees.
However, unresolved issues allegedly remain, such as whether the released Palestinian prisoners will be returned to Gaza, the West Bank, or relocated to a third country.
We used to be warm in our homes, but now we live in tents with cold and rain.” – Yousef, 11.
Rain and cold temperatures in #Gaza are making living conditions even worse for children and families.
While UNICEF is distributing winter supplies, a ceasefire is what’s desperately… pic.twitter.com/xNlipSWLE6
— UNICEF MENA – يونيسف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا (@UNICEFmena) December 16, 2024
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that significant progress has been made toward an agreement, according to Israeli Army Radio.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the Israeli claims, though the group has reaffirmed its willingness to negotiate an exchange and ceasefire, following its previous agreement to a US-proposed deal in May that was derailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu faces criticism from opposition groups and families of Israeli captives for stalling the agreement due to political concerns. Right-wing ministers in his coalition, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have threatened to withdraw their support if a full ceasefire is approved.
Israel believes there are still around 100 captives in Gaza.
‘Fate Unknown’
On Saturday, Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, accused the Israeli military of intentionally and repeatedly targeting a location where Israeli captives were being held.
In a message conveyed through his Telegram channel, he stated that “the occupation army recently targeted a location where some enemy captives were held, bombing it multiple times to ensure that they were killed”.
Abu Obeida added that the Resistance group possesses “intelligence confirming that the enemy deliberately targeted the location with the intent to kill the captives and their guards.”
Abu Obeida also disclosed that al-Qassam Brigades fighters initiated a search and rescue operation to find survivors. However, only one captive was located, though their “fate remains unknown.”
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Shortly after Abu Obeida’s post, the al-Qassam Brigades released a video titled, ‘Netanyahu and Halevi are seeking to get rid of their captives in Gaza by all means.”
The footage depicts a captive, bloodied and struggling to move amid the rubble, likely from the bombing mentioned in Abu Obeida’s statement.
Earlier this month, on December 7, the military media of the Al-Qassam Brigades released another video showing an Israeli captive in Gaza directly addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the video, the captive demands the establishment of an immediate agreement for the captives’ release.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 45,028 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,962 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
