Hamas-Israel deal “very close”: 1,000 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in ceasefire agreement

Shafaq News/ A ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government is "very close" and includes the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel since October 7, 2023, Sky News Arabia reported on Tuesday.

Among the 1,000 prisoners are Hamas fighters and 170 serving long sentences, including 100 from Fatah, and 70 from Hamas and various Palestinian factions.

Sources told Sky News Arabia that Israel will have the "veto right" over any names proposed for release by Hamas, specifically rejecting the release of key leaders from Hamas and Fatah, including Marwan Barghouti, Abdullah Barghouti, Abbas Al-Sayyed, and Ibrahim Hamed.

“The agreement is imminent and will be announced soon, with oversight and guarantees from the US, Egypt, and Qatar to ensure the implementation of all terms,” they added.

Negotiators are scheduled to meet in Doha on Tuesday to finalize the details of a plan to end the Israeli war on Gaza, which has claimed over 45,000 lives, the majority of them women and children. US President Joe Biden stated that a ceasefire and hostage release deal is "on the brink"of being finalized.

An official familiar with the negotiations confirmed that mediators delivered a final draft of the agreement to both Israel and Hamas on Monday after a "breakthrough" at midnight in talks attended by US presidential envoys.

If successful, the ceasefire agreement would mark the culmination of over a year of intermittent negotiations and result in the largest release of Israeli hostages since the early days of the conflict, when Hamas released about half of its detainees in exchange for 240 Palestinians held by Israel.