Al-Qassam Brigades handed over the fourth batch of Israeli prisoners in Gaza at the end of last November (Al Jazeera)
Axios said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is making serious efforts to try to reach a prisoner deal that could lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip before the beginning of the month of Ramadan, and for a period of 6 weeks.
On the other hand, the American website quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Qatari mediators informed them that senior officials of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) were disappointed with the broad outlines of the prisoner release deal that was presented in Paris last Friday.
They confirmed that there is a large gap between them and their demands, according to Israeli officials and an informed source who spoke to Axios.
“There is no room for much optimism,” a senior Israeli official told the website.
He added, "The progress achieved by Israel with the mediators in Paris did not close the gaps with Hamas, and it is difficult to see at this stage how an agreement can be reached before Ramadan."
The website considered that reaching an agreement might be possible by next Monday, most likely after “an arduous battle due to the large gaps between Israel and Hamas in the negotiations.”
Informed sources had revealed to Al Jazeera that Israel had agreed to the terms of a preliminary framework for a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of prisoners with the Palestinian resistance, ensuring the gradual return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, with the exception of those of military service age.
The sources added that Tel Aviv accepted Hamas's request to increase the entry of aid and temporary homes into the Strip and bring in heavy machinery and equipment, in addition to repositioning its military forces outside crowded areas, and stopping aerial reconnaissance for 8 hours a day.
She added that Israel agreed to release 400 Palestinian prisoners, including a number of those with high sentences, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli prisoners, women and the elderly.
The American website quoted US President Joe Biden as saying, “My national security advisor told me that we are close, but we are not finished yet, and I hope that we will reach a ceasefire by next Monday.”
Yesterday, Monday, representatives of the Israeli army, the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad) and the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) held a first round of talks in Doha with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, which dealt with the humanitarian aspects of the prisoner deal proposal.
Two Israeli officials said that these talks are expected to continue on Tuesday.
According to Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his negotiators to stress that some Palestinian prisoners (such as Hamas members who were convicted of killing Israelis and are serving long sentences) would not be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank when they are released under the proposed exchange deal.
Source: Axios + Al Jazeera