Hamas willing to release more Israelis in exchange for Palestinian prisoners

Palestinian Territories – AFP

Hamas is willing to extend the truce for four days and release more Israelis in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source close to the group said Wednesday, as mediators sought a lasting halt to the conflict.

The truce is scheduled to expire early Thursday.

Qatari mediators said they were working for a “sustainable” ceasefire.

Hamas on Wednesday “informed the mediators that it is willing to extend the truce for four days,” a source close to the group told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Under that arrangement, “the movement would be able to release Israeli prisoners that it, other resistance movements and other parties hold during this period, according to the terms of the existing truce,” the source added.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference on Tuesday that negotiators were seeking “a sustainable truce that will lead to further negotiations and eventually to an end… to this war.”

A source with knowledge of the talks added in comments to AFP on Wednesday that discussions were “focused on building on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal.”

Among the Palestinian prisoners freed in Tuesday’s exchange was 14-year-old Ahmad Salaima who returned to his home in east Jerusalem to cheers and hugs from relatives.

“When Ahmed was in prison, we couldn’t visit him, even though he’s the youngest Palestinian prisoner,” his father Nayef said.