Hamas is looking to harden its position in any further ceasefire negotiations after Israel and the US withdrew their teams from the Doha talks last week, according to a source close to the Hamas delegation.
A previous US-sponsored framework, included Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and Palestinians from Gaza detained since the war began.
Under the proposed framework, eight of the hostages would be released on the first day of the 60-day ceasefire agreement; the other half would be released on the seventh day.
“Instead of releasing eight captives in the first day, the movement is now considering the option of spreading their release over the entire 60-day period,” the source added.
The source said the group is also “considering making amendments to the issues on the negotiating agendas related to ending the war which are scheduled to begin after the ceasefire takes effect.”
An Egyptian official told CNN today that the group is “now going to take a hardline position because the amount of food is decreasing and that puts pressure on them internally,” but did not provide further details.
Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya blamed Israel and the US for stalling the ceasefire talks in a televised speech Sunday, saying that the starvation crisis meant there is “no point in continuing negotiations” under current conditions.
This post was updated to clarify the new proposed framework.
