Qatar hopes to announce a deal as early as today to release civilian hostages taken by Hamas in an Oct. 7 attack in exchange for a pause in fighting, according to a diplomatic source and another source familiar with the talks, CNN reported.
American officials familiar with the details of the negotiations emphasized that, although an agreement has not been reached, they are increasingly optimistic and believe that weeks of hard work will soon pay off with the release of the hostages.
“It’s very close,” a senior US official told CNN.
Two Israeli sources also said the deal could be announced as early as today. The release of the prisoners needs to be approved by the Israeli government, but that is not expected to be an obstacle, one source said.
The deal would reportedly require the release of 50 women and children hostages taken by the militant group during an October 7 attack on Israel, in exchange for a four- to five-day pause in fighting, and the release of three Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli civilian freed.
Under the deal, Hamas would also reportedly hand over any additional women and children taken hostage during the period the fighting was paused, something the group had previously insisted it could not do until a full ceasefire was in place.
The temporary ceasefire would potentially be extended further to free more hostages.
The hostages that will be released are of different nationalities, and one of them that the Americans hope will be the first to be released is the three-year-old American toddler Abigail Edan – the youngest American hostage whose parents were killed by Hamas, said a person familiar with the negotiations.
During the days when the fighting was paused, Israel would stop flying surveillance drones over northern Gaza for at least six hours each day.
According to CNN, diplomatic sources and US government officials, including President Joe Biden, have in recent days struck a more optimistic tone regarding the progress of negotiations.
However, it is pointed out that any agreement could be disrupted by developments on the ground in Gaza.
