GAZA/JERUSALEM—The head of the Hamas terrorist organization indicated on Tuesday that a truce agreement with Israel was close, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped for good news soon concerning hostages, the most hopeful signs yet of a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and liberate prisoners.
According to an adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the party was "close to reaching a truce agreement" with Israel and has given its answer to Qatari mediators.
"We are making progress," Mr. Netanyahu remarked. "I don't think it's worth saying too much, not even now, but I hope there will be good news soon," said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in statements issued by his office.
Later on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that an accord to release some of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas terrorists was very near. “My team is in the region shuttling between capitals. We’re now very close, very close, to bringing some of these hostages home very soon,” he said.
“But I don’t want to get into the details because nothing is done until it’s done.”
Mr. Netanyahu called his war cabinet together amid rising evidence of an agreement to release some of the 240 captives kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza following their fatal cross-border attack into Israel on Oct. 7, which began the conflict.
According to a source close to the talks, Hamas will release 50 women and children, including some foreigners, while Israel will release 150 Palestinian inmates, predominantly women and kids, during a four-day truce.
A US person briefed on the Qatar-mediated talks cited the identical statistics for each side's release, saying the 50 captives to be freed would be largely women and children, with hostilities halted for four or five days.
According to the official, there is a tentative agreement, but it is not final until everything is agreed upon.
“We believe we are very, very close to having a deal,” the official told Reuters. “There is still a lot of work to be done, still approval that has to be achieved. but we believe we are very close.”
It would be the six-week-old war's first truce and the first large release of individuals imprisoned by both sides.
According to Israeli estimates, Hamas's Oct. 7 raid into Israeli villages bordering Gaza killed 1,200 people. According to the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry, at least 13,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel's ensuing aerial assault and invasion of Gaza, including at least 5,600 children.
Earlier, a Hamas spokesperson told Al Jazeera TV that talks were focused on how long the truce would last, how to get assistance into Gaza, and the logistics of the hostage swap. According to the spokesman, Issat el Reshiq, both sides will release women and children, and specifics would be published by Qatar, which is mediating the discussions.
Unidentified authorities told Israel's Channel 12 and Channel 13 television stations that an agreement may be achieved "within hours."
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president, Mirjana Spoljaric, visited Haniyeh in Qatar on Monday to "advance humanitarian issues" connected to the war, the Geneva-based ICRC said in a statement. She also met with Qatari officials separately.
The ICRC stated that it was not involved in hostage discussions, but that it was ready "to facilitate any future release that the parties agree to."
