Hamas, Israel ‘close’to a truce: What their deal may include? | 5 things to know

What is the Hamas-Israel deal about? Here’s are key conditions that the truce might include:

1. Freeing hostages: Negotiations to free hostages seized in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel are at their “closest point” to a deal and have reached the “final stage,” mediator Qatar was quoted by AFP as saying.

Between 50 and 100 Israeli civilian and foreign hostages would be released, but no military personnel, sources were quoted by the report as saying. In exchange, around 300 Palestinians, including women and minors, would be freed from Israeli jails. Around 240, mostly Israeli, hostages were held by Hamas fighters on October 7, during the deadliest assault on Israel in its history.

2. Five-day truce: The tentative agreement between Hamas and Israel would include a five-day truce, sources told AFP. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera quoted Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq as saying that the ongoing talks were for a truce that would last “a number of days”.

3. Complete ceasefire: This truce could “comprised of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily”, the report said.

4. Food and medical aid for Gaza: The Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources also said that the proposed deal might also allow for up to 300 trucks of food and medical aid to enter Gaza.

5. ‘We will not stop fighting’: However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that, “We will not stop fighting until we bring the hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure that there is no more of a threat from Gaza”. He said this said on social media after meeting representatives of the hostages’ families on Monday evening.