Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization that attacked Israel on October 7, has rejected the latest framework for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, according to reports in the Israeli media.
Hamas had rejected any deal on hostages unless Israel agreed to end the war and pull all of its forces out of the Gaza Strip — a condition that would allow the terror group to claim victory in the war, and was therefore a non-starter for Israel.
Breitbart News reported on Saturday that there had been progress in talks held in Paris, France, through mediators:
Israeli sources reported progress in talks in Paris, France, this weekend over a release of hostages by Hamas in exchange for a temporary pause in fighting, as the Palestinian terrorist groups appeared to back down from demands for an end to the war.
The rough outline of the deal appears to involve a six-week pause in fighting, accompanied by the release of 35-40 hostages, with Israel releasing some 300 or so Palestinian terror convicts, and redeploying some of its forces within Gaza, though not leaving.
Hamas still holds some 134 Israeli hostages, several dozen of whom are thought to be dead. Over 100 hostages — mostly women and children — were released during a week-long truce in November, which Hamas broke, leading to a resumption of fighting.
However, the Times of Israel noted on Monday:
Senior Israeli officials tell Hebrew media that there is mounting pessimism that Hamas will agree to a hostage deal laid out in a framework proposed by mediators.
Both Channel 12 and the Kan public broadcaster quote a senior official as saying that they were told that the framework worked out in Paris by the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators “doesn’t correspond with Hamas demands.”
There are reported splits among Hamas leaders, including rifts between the billionaire leaders who live in luxurious exile in Doha, Qatar, and those presently hiding underground in Gaza, who planned and executed the October 7 attack and are now on the run.
Israeli government spokesperson Ilana Stein said Monday that 103 of the 134 hostages still in captivity in Gaza are thought to be alive. The others were either murdered on October 7, and their bodies taken into Gaza; or else were murdered in Hamas custody.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.