Hamas offers to release ten hostages to facilitate a ceasefire agreement

BarcelonaHamas announced Wednesday that it is prepared to release ten Israeli hostages to ensure a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the Islamist group said it is willing to take this step to ensure the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, which Gazans desperately need, and to halt Israeli bombing.

Hamas insists it has accepted the latest truce proposal presented by the United States, but that the talks are proving "difficult" due to Israel's "intransigence." It indicated that the main barriers to reaching an agreement are the inflow of humanitarian aid, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip, and "genuine guarantees" for a permanent ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that an agreement could be reached soon, "this week or next." Last week, Trump assured that Israel had accepted the latest truce proposal sent from Washington to both sides, and Hamas said it viewed it "positively." However, Tel Aviv has not yet officially positioned itself, and negotiations have been ongoing in Doha since Sunday, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.

Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, explained this Tuesday that the plan proposed by Washington provides for a 60-day ceasefire, the release of ten live hostages, and the return of nine bodies of deceased Israelis. According to Witkoff, in recent days the points of disagreement have been reduced from four to just one, although he did not provide details. With Wednesday's statement, Hamas wants to make it clear that it accepts the part that has to do with the release of hostages and demonstrate its "flexibility."

The ceasefire should serve to negotiate a definitive end to the war in the Palestinian enclave, but there are two elements that keep the positions very distant: Israel demands the disappearance of Hamas and the Islamist group wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Last January, the Israeli government and Hamas reached a first ceasefire agreement, but Israel broke the truce two months after it came into effect. They lined up to access humanitarian aid distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an organization controlled by Israel and the United States.