Hopes for ceasefire agreement in Gaza increases, Hamas talks with Egypt, Qatar

Hamas has agreed to release 20 Israeli hostages in its custody instead of the 33 proposed by Israel. However, its official announcement has not been made yet. Hamas negotiators began talks on a possible Gaza ceasefire that would include the return of some hostages to Israel, a Hamas official said. According to sources, Hamas has also demanded a ceasefire for 40 days and later the permanent withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Hamas has also talked to Egypt and Qatar.

The Hamas delegation arrived from the political office of the Palestinian Islamic Movement in Qatar, which along with Egypt negotiated the ceasefire amid international dismay over the rising death toll in Gaza. Earlier in November, a brief ceasefire was seen in Gaza. Taher al-Nono, a Hamas official and adviser to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said that meetings with Egyptian and Qatari mediators had begun and that Hamas was considering their proposals "with full seriousness and responsibility."

However, he reiterated a demand that any agreement must include Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war... conditions that Israel has already rejected. "Any agreement reached must include some of our key demands: a complete and permanent end to the aggression, the full withdrawal of occupation from the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced people to their homes without restrictions, and a genuine end to the conflict," Nono told Reuters. "Prisoner exchange agreement and reconstruction and ending the blockade."

Meanwhile, an Israeli official indicated that Israel's main position remained unchanged, saying that it would not agree "under any circumstances" to an end to the war in a deal to free the hostages. The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border attack on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 252 hostage, according to Israeli data. According to Gaza's health ministry, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians (32 of them in the most recent 24-hour period) and injured more than 77,000. The bombing has destroyed most of the Gaza Strip.

While the meetings were underway in Cairo, Israeli forces said they had killed Aiman Zarrab. Israel said Ayman was the leader of Islamic Jihad forces in southern Gaza and was involved in the October 7 attack.