The deal is expected to see the group exchange captives for Palestinian prisoners with Israel in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.
Hamas officials are “moving closer to a truce agreement” with Israel after weeks of war in the Gaza Strip, according to Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian group that rules the besieged enclave.
The group delivered its response to Qatari mediators in the ongoing talks, Haniyeh said in a statement to Reuters news agency on Tuesday morning.
The statement did not provide further details, but a Hamas official told Tel Aviv Tribune that the negotiations focused on the duration of the ceasefire, the modalities for delivering aid to Gaza and the exchange of Israeli captives held by Hamas against Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Both sides will release the women and children and details will be announced by Qatar, which is mediating the negotiations, Ezzat el-Reshiq said.
The agreement will include a ceasefire, arrangements for aid trucks to supply all areas of Gaza and the transfer of the wounded to other countries for treatment, according to el-Reshiq.
He said talks between the warring sides had been going on for weeks, adding that the Israeli side was blocking the deal.
The Hamas official said the deal was agreed by all Gaza brigades in phone calls, “because we are always united, whether on the battlefield or in making political decisions.”
Separately, in comments cited by the Israeli news site Walla, senior Hamas official Yahya Sinwar said the agreement would ban Israeli aircraft activity in Gaza during the truce.
UN resolution
Talk of an imminent captive deal has been circulating for days as Qatari mediators sought a deal that would allow Hamas and Israel to swap captives for prisoners in exchange for a temporary ceasefire that would increase emergency aid deliveries to civilians in Gaza.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for “urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip” to allow the delivery of aid and medical evacuations after four attempts unsuccessful response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
The resolution, introduced by Malta on Wednesday, also calls for “corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days” to protect civilians, particularly children, Ambassador Vanessa Frazier told the Council.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday the world was witnessing an “unprecedented and unprecedented” level of civilian deaths in Gaza compared to any other conflict since he became secretary-general of the international organization in 2017.
“What is clear is that in a few weeks, thousands of children have been killed, so that is what matters,” Guterres said in New York as he presented a new UN environmental report .
At least 13,000 Palestinians – including around 5,600 children and 3,500 women – have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its air and ground attack on Gaza following Hamas attacks targeting Israel on October 7, according to the Ministry of Defense. Gaza Health.
Hamas and allied groups took around 240 prisoners during their incursion into southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
