A senior Israeli official told the "Times of Israel" on Tuesday that the movement "Hamas" rejected all terms of the latest proposed deal for the release of hostages. The official added that "Hamas," in its response, requested that the release of Israeli hostages in the first phase of the deal be conditioned on guarantees provided by the negotiators and that Israel, in the second phase, agree to a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, as well as the unconditional return of Palestinians to the northern parts of the strip, which deterred Israel from accepting the agreement.
The response from "Hamas" also included a significant increase in the number of Palestinian security prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for each released hostage, along with a number of individuals convicted of murder that they wish to free, according to the Arabic News Agency.
An Israeli official stated on Monday that "Hamas" had offered in its latest response to the prisoner exchange negotiations to release 20 hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week truce, in addition to the release of hundreds of Palestinians. The Israeli website "Walla" reported on an unnamed official saying that "Hamas" justified the reduction from the previously agreed number of 40 hostages by claiming that some of the names previously proposed are no longer alive and others are in the hands of different organizations.
