Israel has made a new hostage deal offer to Hamas leaders: free all 101 remaining hostages, and we will let you live.
The offer came after months of futile negotiations over an American-backed proposal that would see the hostages released in stages. Israel reluctantly accepted the American deal, which did not guarantee the release of all of the hostages, and which was vague about whether Hamas would be fully disarmed or removed from the Gaza Strip.
The new proposal is a single-stage deal: all 101 hostages, alive or dead, and an end to Hamas rule in Gaza, in return for safe passage for Hamas leaders out of Gaza, and possibly the release of a number of Palestinian terror convicts.
The Times of Israel reported Thursday:
Israel has proposed a framework for a deal with Hamas that would see all the hostages released at once and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with safe passage out of the enclave for Yahya Sinwar and his associates, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The proposed plan would see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has been opposed to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent months, welcomed the announcement of the new plan, urging the government to pursue it.
“A one-shot deal that includes all 101 hostages is the wish of all Israeli citizens and the families of the hostages. The proposal strengthens security in Israel and makes it possible to reach a comprehensive regional settlement,” the forum said in a statement, as reported by the Times of Israel.
(This author has long argued that the only possible deal in circumstances where Israel had committed, out of necessity, to destroying Hamas as an organization was one in which the leaders could be convinced to save their own individual lives in exchange for the hostages’ release.)
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 Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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