Israel, Hamas Hostage Swap Deal Close to Completion, Reports Say

Israel and Hamas are nearing a deal for a hostage swap and temporary pause in fighting, various sources say — but Israeli leaders are reportedly insisting that any deal allow the military to continue their assault and occupation in Gaza.

Sources from both sides as well as U.S. officials said on Monday that negotiations have reached a breakthrough point and a deal may be reached within the next few days.

Reports say that the deal would involve an exchange of captives being held in Gaza and prisoners being held by Israel; Drop Site reports, citing Palestinian sources, that 3,000 out of the roughly 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israeli military would be released in exchange for some of the 100 Israeli captives still remaining in Gaza.

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly discussed the negotiations over the weekend as negotiators have worked to reach a deal before Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

U.S. and other officials have said numerous times over the past months that they are near an agreement, just for the agreement to fall apart due to Israel’s unwillingness to stop its genocide.

Media reports have described the pending deal as a ceasefire agreement. The negotiating parties are reportedly still simply negotiating over the ceasefire framework that the Biden administration introduced and that Hamas negotiators accepted in May; Palestinian journalist Muhammad Shehada has pointed out that even the list of captives set to be released is the same that was discussed in June.

But reports say that the current deal would not involve a permanent ceasefire whatsoever; rather, only a pause in fighting — and it’s questionable whether Israel would even adhere to a pause, as negotiators have insisted on keeping troops in Gaza and Israeli forces have reportedly continually violated a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

The New York Times reports that Netanyahu wants a “partial” deal that only allows for the release of hostages and that will allow Israel to resume fighting afterward, demanding that language be added to the deal to give Israel the ability to do so. Hamas negotiators have suggested that they will not agree to a deal that doesn’t involve a permanent ceasefire.

Even more, current hurdles to a deal include Israel’s insistence that it be able to maintain a permanent military presence in Gaza — over a land area that Israel has kept enlarging over the course of negotiations. Over the summer, Netanyahu dug his heels in on permanent military occupation of a strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, as well as the Netzarim Corridor that Israel has used to split Gaza into a northern and southern region.

Now, Israel is also demanding military control over an expanded “buffer zone” along Gaza’s eastern and northern borders with Israel. Israeli negotiators have asked for a depth of 2,000 meters, or over 1.2 miles, into the small territory. “We believe this means that 60 km (37 miles) of the Gaza Strip will remain under their control, and displaced people will not return to their homes,” one Hamas negotiator told CNN.

Meanwhile, some Israeli officials are opposed to the deal. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the most extremist members of Netanyahu’s government, said on Monday that the deal is a “catastrophe” because it involves the release of Palestinian prisoners — most of whom Israel holds without charges.

Smotrich openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

“Now is the time to continue with all our might, to occupy and cleanse the entire Strip, to finally take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas, and to open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and all the hostages are returned,” Smotrich said.