Hamas concedes on Israeli troops in Gaza, raising hopes for hostage deal

For the first time Gaza has agreed to allow Israeli forces to remain in the enclave, and has submitted a list of hostages it would release: US says truce could be signed this month.

People walk past the rubble of collapsed and damaged buildings along a street in Gaza City. Picture: AFP.

Hamas has yielded to two of Israel’s key demands for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, Arab mediators said, raising hopes of an agreement that could release some hostages within days despite the repeated collapse of previous negotiations.

The militant group told mediators for the first time that it would agree to a deal that would allow Israeli forces to remain in Gaza temporarily when the fighting stops. Hamas also handed over a list of hostages, including U.S. citizens, whom it would release under a ceasefire pact, something it hasn’t done since the first truce in the conflict last year.

The new plan, proposed by Cairo and backed by the U.S., seeks to build on momentum generated by the ceasefire in Lebanon secured in November, which has broadly held despite both Israel and Hezbollah accusing each other of violations.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment. Netanyahu said Monday there were certain developments in the ceasefire talks but it was too early to tell whether a deal was within reach.

However US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Israel that ceasefire talks were at “a point where it could get done.” Mr Sullivan also denied speculation that Mr Netanyahu was stalling on any deal until Donald Trump takes office next month.

“No, I do not get that sense,” he said.

“I got the sense today from the prime minister [that] he’s ready to do a deal. And when I go to Doha and Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later,” he said.

Progress toward a deal comes after an Egyptian delegation visited Israel in late November, and after President-elect Donald Trump said on Truth Social earlier this month that there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages aren’t released before he assumes office in January.

As part of the latest proposal, Israel and Hamas are considering a 60-day ceasefire period that would see the release of up to 30 hostages being held in Gaza, including U.S. citizens, according to the mediators. In exchange, Israel would set free Palestinian prisoners and allow greater humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, they said.

A camp of tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Gaza City in an empty plot of land in the city centre. Picture: AFP.

Negotiations picked up pace this week with an Israeli delegation visiting Cairo on Tuesday, days after Hamas officials were in the Egyptian capital.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, following a meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday in Jerusalem, said he thought a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza were close. He said Israel’s military achievements in Gaza, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and especially the recent ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have contributed to a softening of stances that could pave the way for a deal.

“For months, we believe Hamas was waiting for lots of other actors and forces to come to their rescue,” said Sullivan.

After the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, he added, “we had a different character to the negotiation, and we believe that it puts us in a position to be able to close this negotiation.” Sullivan was expected to also travel to Egypt and Qatar this week to push for a deal, the mediators said.

Previous rounds of talks repeatedly faltered, but Hamas in recent weeks has displayed more flexibility on several key issues. The mediators said those include a willingness to accept Israeli forces remaining temporarily in the Philadelphi corridor, a tiny strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, and the Netzarim corridor, which divides the enclave. The militant group has also agreed it wouldn’t run or have a presence in the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Hamas had long resisted those Israeli conditions for a deal, but has expressed openness to a compromise since its ally Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon. That deal left Hamas, already weakened by Israel strikes on its leadership and fighters, isolated in its fight against Israel.

In October, Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who had insisted that a deal must include a complete end to the war and the retreat of all Israeli forces from Gaza. Hamas is now run by a collective leadership, including officials from the Palestinian diaspora, people familiar with the matter say, until a successor to Sinwar is chosen.

Still, Arab negotiators warned that Hamas could still pull out of the deal at the last moment, as it has done previously.

Hamas on Sunday submitted to mediators in Cairo a list of hostages that includes U.S. citizens, women, the elderly and captives with medical conditions, as well as the bodies of five dead hostages, Arab mediators said. It also compiled a list of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons, whose release the group has demanded as part of the deal.

Hostages could be freed shortly after signing the deal, and more time would be given to Hamas to establish the names of remaining hostages, their whereabouts and their state of health, the mediators said.

“A prisoner exchange deal requires both parties, and thus the enemy must make a political decision to reach a cornerstone agreement,” Hamas said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.

The last round of ceasefire talks had stalled over Netanyahu’s demands for Israeli forces to remain in the strategic corridors in Gaza. Other sticking points included whether any halt to fighting would be temporary or become permanent, how to secure the border between Gaza and Egypt and Israel’s ability to screen Palestinians returning to northern Gaza. Other issues were which Palestinian prisoners would be approved for release and the number of living hostages to be freed.

Netanyahu, in response to a reporter’s question about whether he was willing to give up Israel’s presence along the Philadelphi corridor to facilitate a deal, said the corridor should continue to be under Israel’s control.

Israeli negotiators are currently pushing for more hostages to be released in the initial phase of the ceasefire but have agreed to gradually withdraw from the Philadephi corridor. Israel has told negotiators it is willing to reposition Israeli forces in other parts of Gaza but rejected a demand to restrict its presence in other parts, including northern Gaza.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that left 1,200 people dead and around 250 taken hostage. More than 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health authorities, who don’t say how many were combatants.

Israel says there are now 96 hostages remaining in Gaza, most of them Israeli. They include dual nationals and at least 30 hostages whom Israel has concluded are no longer alive. Four additional hostages taken before Oct. 7, 2023, bring the total to 100 hostages.

Months of diplomatic efforts led by the U.S. to reach a deal to stop the violence and free the remaining hostages have stalled over deep disagreements about whether Israeli troops can remain in Gaza and whether there should be a permanent end to the fighting. The only negotiated pause in fighting took place in late November last year.

Arab negotiators believe after an initial ceasefire is reached, it would be difficult for Israel to restart the war in Gaza.

The Wall St Journal