A proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas includes the release of about 800 Palestinians currently imprisoned in Israel, including those serving life sentences.
Israel has already agreed to most of the prisoner exchanges, according to a senior Biden administration official, but Hamas negotiators continue to make new requests.
“It has brought a sense of urgency to the process,” the official said. “But it’s also called into question Hamas’s readiness to do a deal of any kind.”
The official said that ongoing negotiations over an 18-paragraph cease-fire deal hinge on four paragraphs. Three of those paragraphs are related to the exchange of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack for hundreds of prisoners in Israeli jails.
“Basically what Hamas has been demanding here, the Israelis have come forward to meet the terms as best they can,” the official said.
“You would have hundreds of Palestinian prisoners coming out in exchange for the hostages, give or take 800 or so, including some very significant prisoners, including some with life sentences.”
Given Hamas’s recent execution of hostages who were slated to be exchanged, however, the official said fewer Palestinian prisoners were likely to be released than originally planned.
The official also said that Hamas was “threatening to execute more hostages” and the group has continued to make new demands.
“We all know who we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with a terrorist group,” the official said.
The proposed deal, most of which has remained unchanged and agreed upon since July, would also allow for Palestinians, including Hamas members, to safely leave the Gaza Strip to seek medical treatment.
In exchange, Israel would receive men ages 50 or older and all women, including soldiers, from Hamas captivity.
Apart from the exchange of prisoners, the one point remaining in contention is the issue of the Philadelphi Corridor, a route and surrounding area that runs along the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In recent months, Hamas has demanded that Israel completely withdraw its military from the corridor, whereas Israel previously agreed only to withdraw its military from the “densely populated areas” of Gaza.
The official said that Israel has since agreed to a “significant reduction of forces” in the region, but not to total withdrawal from the corridor.
The United States will continue to encourage Israel to consider any adjustments necessary to secure the release of hostages, provided that such adjustment was “within reason and doesn’t jeopardize Israel’s security,” the official said.
