By Janet Ekstract. ISTANBUL – Two Israeli officials told the press on Monday that the first phase of a ceasefire agreement being finalized would include the release of 33 hostages. A senior Israeli official said both sides are on the cusp of a deal and that Israel is prepared to immediately put it into effect once the deal is signed. The first phase of the agreement would include Israeli forces remaining along the Philadelphia Corridor – a narrow strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border. Both sides appear to have made major concessions to reach a potential ceasefire agreement because previously Hamas had demanded Israel completely withdraw from all territories. Israel would also maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border with Israel, according to what Israeli officials said. The length of the zone had been a point of contention during negotiations.
Residents of northern Gaza would be allowed to return freely to the north of the strip though an Israeli official told the media that there would be unspecified “security arrangements’ in place. The official also said that Palestinian prisoners found to be responsible for killing Israelis would not be released into the West Bank but to the Gaza Strip or abroad, following agreements with foreign countries. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official told the press on Monday that a “breakthrough” in talks occurred late Sunday night during a meeting that Mossad chief David Barnea had with mediators in Doha, Qatar. A second phase of the agreement to bring the war in Gaza to an end would begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, according to the official.
