Egyptian sources assure that ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have produced a positive result and a ceasefire lasting up to six weeks could be declared. The agreement provides for the release of one hostage for each day of the ceasefire. It is also planned to exchange ten Palestinian prisoners for every hostage released.
The United States of America reiterated the conclusion presented by Egypt today (25), stating that recent negotiations in Paris had found a “middle ground” to guarantee a ceasefire in Gaza, according to the President's Security Adviser.
“It is true that representatives from Israel, the United States of America, Egypt and Qatar met in Paris and reached a consensus on the broad outlines,” Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, said on American broadcaster North Broadcaster CNN, citing on a possible agreement on the release of hostages and a temporary ceasefire.
“I won’t go into details as it is still under negotiation,” he said.
According to Sullivan, there must be room for indirect negotiations between Qatar, Egypt and Hamas, as they must ultimately agree to the release of hostages.
“We hope that in the coming days we can reach a point where there is actually a solid and final agreement on this issue,” he said.
Egyptian sources had already told the EFE news agency on Sunday morning that the negotiations in Paris had “achieved a positive result” and were “at an advanced stage”.
“The talks have achieved a positive outcome and reached a meeting point where a relatively long ceasefire of up to six weeks will be declared,” said the sources, who did not want to be named.
In a first phase, the agreement calls for the release of 30 hostages held by Hamas since its attack on Israel on October 7 in exchange for 300 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
“In addition, in this first phase there will be a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza […]then further phases will follow until all hostages held by Hamas are released,” the sources added.
In this first phase of the ceasefire, “negotiations will address issues such as the future of the Gaza Strip, the twostate solution and the resumption of IsraeliPalestinian peace negotiations,” they also stated.
The sources attributed the “positive development” to “concessions by Hamas representatives on many of their demands.”
Israeli media reported “significant progress” in the Paris talks on Friday but warned there was still a long way to go.
Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, confirmed to the Israeli press on Saturday that the Israeli War Cabinet would be briefed in the next few hours on the issues discussed in Paris and also said that “it will be possible to make progress.”
*With the Lusa agency
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