By Khaled Yousef
ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli government is awaiting Hamas’ response to an Egyptian proposal for a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal, Israeli media said on Wednesday.
“If Israel receives a positive response, it will immediately send its negotiating delegation to Cairo,” the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.
"If progress is made in the negotiations, Israel must make concessions to end the war and release the prisoners," KAN said, citing an unnamed Israeli official.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Egypt has floated a proposal for a 60-day truce and a prisoner exchange between Palestinian factions and Israel.
Under the proposal, Israel would maintain its military presence in Gaza during this period.
It also includes the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing in December, and for the Palestinian Authority to manage the Palestinian side of the crossing with European supervision, overseen by Israel. Hamas would completely withdraw from the crossing.
There was no comment from Egypt, Hamas or Israel on the report.
Israel, which holds over 10,000 Palestinian detainees in its jails, estimates that there are 101 hostages being held in Gaza, while Hamas has reported that 33 of them had been killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.
Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.
Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last October, killing over 44,500 people, most of them women and children, and injuring nearly 106,000.
The second year of the genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.
On Nov. 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar