Hamas has responded to a Qatari proposed hostage-prisoner swap between the terrorist group and Israel.
In a statement, Hamas said it “dealt with the proposal in a positive spirit, ensuring a comprehensive and complete ceasefire, ending the aggression against our people, ensuring relief, shelter, and reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and completing a prisoner exchange.”
The announcement was made on Feb. 6 by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Qatari capital of Doha.
“I would like to inform the media that we have received a reply from Hamas with regards to the general framework of the agreement with regard to hostages,” said Mr. Al Thani. “The reply includes some comments, but in general, it is positive. However, given the sensitivity of the circumstances, we will not tackle details.
“We are optimistic, and we have delivered the response to the Israeli party,” he said.
President Joe Biden on Feb. 6 said Hamas’ response appeared “a little over the top.” The administration will be reviewing it.
It is far from guaranteed Israel will accept the proposal.
Mr. Al Thani and Mr. Blinken met “to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas and enable an extended humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza,” according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Qatar, a state sponsor of Hamas, has served as an intermediary between the terrorist group and the Jewish state. Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, resides in Qatar.
While the details of the proposed deal have not been publicized, reportedly, it would consist of a weeks-long ceasefire that would include Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for tens of hostages in Gaza, which Hamas controls. It would also include a provision for the bodies of dead hostages to be returned to Israel.
There are 136 hostages in Gaza, 31 of whom have died, according to the Israeli government.
“We have informed 31 families that their captured loved ones are no longer among the living and that we have pronounced them dead,” IDF chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Feb. 6.
Hamas, which is backed by Iran, launched rockets from Gaza into Israel and invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7, resulting in the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas terrorists killed Israelis, raped women, maimed people, and took more than 200 hostages into Gaza.
All of this occurred as Jews were celebrating Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday to mark the completion of reading the Torah and starting to read the Five Books of Moses again. For those not observing the festive occasion, Hamas fired shots at attendees of a music festival in Israel close to its border with Gaza.
In response to the attack, Israel has launched a military operation in Gaza amid calls for a permanent ceasefire.
What is Hamas?
Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the Organization of American States.
Hamas was created by Ahmed Yassin and six other Muslims in 1987, during the First Intifada in Israel. It is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organization that has expressed hostility toward Israel and the West. Hamas stands for “Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya,” or “Islamic Resistance Movement.”
There are presently between 20,000 and 25,000 members of Hamas, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.
Hamas, whose militants wear a green headband, has a military as well as a political unit.
Hamas’s charter, published in 1988, calls for the Jewish State to be wiped off the map.
In 2017, Hamas published a “document of general principles and policies” stating that “a real state of Palestine is a state that has been liberated.”
From The Epoch Times
