Israel

Report: Hamas Declines Israel Hostage Deal

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 7:00 am | < 1 Minute Read

Anucha Angkaew, a Thai farm worker who worked in Israel and was abducted and held by Hamas for 50 days, shows a drawing design of one of the rooms where he was held captive in Gaza, at his family home in Don Pila village in Udon Thani province, Thailand, Dec. 6. (REUTERS/Devjyot Ghoshal)

Hamas reportedly declined an Israeli proposal for a hostage release deal, as per the U.K.-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Tuesday.

The proposal involved exchanging hostages for elderly leaders, including notable members of the Hamas terror group serving lengthy sentences in Israeli prisons, in return for the release of women soldiers and elderly men held in Gaza.

An Egyptian source mentioned in the report stated that Hamas would insist on involving leaders from other Palestinian factions in any future negotiations.

Additionally, Mossad chief David Barnea is expected to meet with Egypt’s Intelligence Minister Abas Kamal to discuss post-war Gaza, according to the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper, affiliated with Hezbollah. The report suggests that Egypt opposes Israeli security control of the Strip unless the Palestinian Authority is permitted to govern it.