A proposal to swap Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners has been sent to Hamas, according to reports.
It follows several days of multinational talks in Paris involving representatives from Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar which have tried to map out the basic contours of a deal for a temporary ceasefire.
The proposal includes a 40-day pause in all military operations and states that all Israeli women, children under 19, elderly over 50 and sick hostages should be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a senior source has told the Reuters news agency.
Israeli army vehicles return from the southern Gaza strip. Pic: Reuters
The draft states Hamas would free 40 Israeli hostages, while Israel would release around 400 Palestinian prisoners and will not re-arrest them.
Under the proposal, 500 aid trucks would be allowed into Gaza every day and thousands of tents and caravans sent there.
It follows comments by US President Joe Biden, who said on Monday, he hoped a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could be secured “by the end of the weekend”.
Mr Biden made the remarks during an unannounced visit to the Van Leeuwen ice cream parlour, next door to 30 Rock in New York.
Flanked by late night TV show host Seth Meyers, Mr Biden was asked by reporters when he thought a ceasefire in Gaza could start.
In a surprise turn, he said “my national security adviser (Jake Sullivan) tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet”.
Appearing on Meyers’ show, Late Night With Seth Meyers, Mr Biden said “Ramadan is coming up, and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out.”
The Muslim holy month, which falls on different dates every year, is set to start on the evening of 10 March and end on the evening of 9 April.
Israel risked losing international support because of the high death toll among Palestinians, Mr Biden warned.
Israel had committed to make it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza’s south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas, he added.
Mr Biden said there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between the two sides while hostages were released and said he hoped to have a ceasefire in the conflict by the following Monday.
“There are too many innocent people that are being killed. And Israel has slowed down the attacks in Rafah,” Biden said, adding that a temporary ceasefire would jumpstart a process for Palestinians to have their own state.
The talks in the French capital, the most serious effort in weeks to halt the fighting, have been hosted by Qatar, with mediators meeting delegations from both sides separately.
The aim was to secure a six-week pause in fighting.
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Israel and Hamas have been at war in Gaza since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group that runs the enclave attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
Israel responded with a military campaign in which almost 30,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, according to medical officials in Gaza.
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