Tel Aviv [Israel], April 16: The Palestinian organization Hamas has presented mediators with a counter-proposal for a hostage deal, in indirect negotiations in the Gaza war, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
This would only provide for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip after a 42-day ceasefire, Haaretz reported on Sunday night, citing Palestinian and Arab sources.
Hamas had previously rejected a compromise proposal by the US, which envisaged the release of 40 hostages in exchange for 900 Palestinian prisoners during a six-week ceasefire.
According to Haaretz, the Hamas counter-proposal demands that the Israeli military ceases fighting in an initial six-week phase and withdraw from urban centres.
At the same time, Palestinian displaced persons would be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip. During this time, Hamas would search for all hostages in the embattled area and find out what condition they are in.
In a second phase, the Israeli army would have to withdraw to Israeli territory. Only then would the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners begin, it was said.
For every Israeli civilian, Israel would have to release 30 Palestinian prisoners from prisons in return, it said. For every Israeli soldier, 50 Palestinians would have to be released from Israeli prisons, including 30 serving life sentences.
Israeli soldiers and dead hostages would be handed over in a third and final phase once the siege of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army had ended and the reconstruction of the area had begun. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
