Hammering out hostage deal could take weeks, sources close to negotiations say - Exclusive

Finalizing the technical details of a hostage deal could take several weeks and there are many complex details to be worked out, including the highly contentious Philadelphi Corridor and the lists of who would be released, sources close to the negotiations told The Jerusalem Post.

“Even if both parties agree on the agreement,” the sources said, executing it, “requires a lot of detail. The main point that we want to achieve is that both parties agree to the overarching agreement, then we will go into the details,” the sources said.

“If we manage to secure an alignment on the main overarching theme of the agreement, the details will be much, much easier, but it will require time, a week or two of technical discussions,” the sources.

How long will the deal take?

Others said the talks could stretch out for three weeks. A US official told reporters last week that both Israel and Hamas had agreed to the overall framework for a three-phase Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal unveiled by US President Joe Biden on May 31. 

What needed to be determined now, the official said, was the sequencing. 

The complexity of that sequencing was apparent already this week as both sides spared over wording regarding talks for a permanent ceasefire that would take place during phase one of the deal.

Israel fears that Hamas will drag out talks on the issue of a permanent ceasefire indefinitely, transforming the lull to the war in phase one, into a permanent ceasefire. Hamas in turn fears Israel won’t seriously engage in those talks and could prematurely resume the war.

As an example of how the deal could hinge on small details, the sources that initially the phrasing around talks in phase was that “the mediators will put the most [amount of] effort to guarantee the continuation of the mediation.”

Hamas removed the words “the most efforts to” so that the sentence would read “the mediators will guarantee the continuation of the mediation,” the sources said.

Israel fears Hamas would drag out talks indefinitely and Hamas wants to ensure that the mediation is guaranteed, “so that no one backs out of it,” the sources said.

“That is one of the points we are trying to “bridge.”

Israel wants to leave a loophole so that it can resume the war, and Hamas doesn’t trust that Israel will continue the mediation, the source said.

The disagreement over the phrasing of the talks in phase one is just one obstacle, the sources said, There are issues regarding the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim line, he said. 

Then there are questions around the list of who will be released and when the sources said.

The sources said they believed that the sides were “very close to a deal,” despite the difficulties, “noting that we are almost there.”

The sources noted that they have tried to rely on the wording in the UN Security Council resolution last month backing the deal, which Hamas has praised.