A photo taken on January 19, 2024 from a position in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip shows an Israeli tank rolling along the fence as damaged buildings are seen in the Gaza Strip during fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas continues.
Jack Guez | Afp | Getty Images
According to sources who spoke to NBC News and Portal, negotiations over the war between Israel and Hamas are aimed at a ceasefire agreement lasting one to two months in return for all remaining Israeli hostages being held captive in Gaza.
Israel has proposed a two-month pause in fighting in return for the more than 130 hostages still being held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government official who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely told NBC News. A second Israeli official said more than 25 of the hostages were dead but Israel was demanding Hamas release the bodies.
Portal, meanwhile, quoted three anonymous officials as saying that Israel and Hamas “broadly agree in principle that an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners could take place during a month-long ceasefire,” without mentioning which countries the officials represent.
The ongoing obstacle to progress in the discussions is disagreement over how to permanently end the Gaza war, the officials added.
The reports come against the backdrop of the devastating Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip and the so far deadlocked talks being pushed by negotiators from Qatar, Egypt and the US
Hamas officials have so far refused to reach an agreement that does not include a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the release of more Palestinian prisoners, NBC News reported Tuesday.
Some of the prisoners whose release Hamas is demanding were involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 240 hostage in Israel, according to Israeli officials. According to Hamas-led health authorities, Israel's land and air offensive has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip in the roughly three and a half months since, displacing about 90% of Gaza's population and killing more than 25,000 people in the besieged enclave there.