'Cautious optimism' in Israel over possible prisoner swap with Hamas: Israeli military analyst

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli military analyst on Wednesday said there is cautious optimism in Israel over reaching a prisoner swap deal with the Hamas group along with a long-period cease-fire in Gaza.

"For the first time in weeks, there have been signs of cautious optimism from Israel regarding the possibility of progress in negotiations for a hostage deal with Hamas," Amos Harel said in his analysis in the Haaretz daily.

"The shift, it seems, came about because of renewed American efforts to secure a breakthrough in negotiations," he added.

Harel also said negotiations are currently focused on the number of Israeli captives to be released and the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel is supposed to release in return.

The second issue is related to the duration of the cease-fire in Gaza and the scope of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Harel said the Joe Biden administration of the US focuses its efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, beginning in the second week of March.

According to several reports, the first stage of the deal between Israel and the Hamas group may extend over a period of six weeks.

The Hamas group said on several occasions that its conditions for a deal with Israel are the full cease-fire, the Israeli army withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the commitment to rebuilding Gaza.

On Feb. 7, Hamas proposed a three-stage plan for a Gaza cease-fire that includes a 135-day pause in the fighting in return for the release of hostages, according to a Palestinian source.

The original framework agreement was worked out during a Paris meeting last month of top officials from the US, Israel, Qatar, and Egypt.

Israel believes there are 134 Israelis being held in Gaza after the Israeli army managed last week to free two Israelis held in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed over 29,000 and injured more than 69,000 with mass destruction, and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara