Hamas are willing to release all hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the brutal war [Getty]
Hamas signalled on Wednesday that it was willing to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during the next phase of an ongoing ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing phase one of the fragile truce, which has held since taking effect on 19 January despite multiple Israeli violations.
Israel’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that talks would begin “this week” on the second phase, which is expected to lay out a more permanent end to the war.
“We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages as in the current first phase,” senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
He did not clarify how many hostages were currently being held by Hamas or other militant groups.
Nunu said this step was meant “to confirm our seriousness and complete readiness to move forward in resolving this issue, as well as to continue steps towards cementing the ceasefire and achieving a sustainable truce”.
Under the ceasefire’s first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by militants so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps.
Wednesday’s offer came after Israel and Hamas announced a deal for the return of all six remaining living hostages eligible for release under phase one in a single swap this weekend.
Hamas also agreed on Tuesday to return the bodies of eight dead hostages in two groups this week and next.
After the completion of the first phase, 58 hostages will remain in Gaza.
Trump ‘aligned’ with Netanyahu
Muhammad Shehada, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that after more than a year of devastating Israeli assault in Gaza, “Hamas wants to prevent the war resuming at any cost”, albeit with some “red lines”.
“And one of those red lines is that they should continue to exist, basically, whereas (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s position is that they should dismantle themselves,” he said.
Since the start of the war, Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas’s capacity to fight or govern, something the militant group has rejected.
But the appearance that Washington is now in complete alignment with Netanyahu’s government, as displayed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit this week, strengthened the Israeli premier’s hand in negotiations, according to Michael Horowitz, an expert at the risk management consultancy Le Beck International.
It gives Netanyahu “more room to pressure Hamas”, Horowitz said, adding that US President Donald Trump “prefers that the agreement moves forward, but he’s leaving the field open to Netanyahu… as long as the ceasefire is maintained”.
