Hamas: Gaza ceasefire agreement in final touches, 90% of prisoners' file resolved

A leader in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) confirmed today, Wednesday, that the ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza were able to resolve the vast majority of the points of contention, adding that the agreement may be in the final touches stage.

The leader explained in statements to the newspaper "Al-Araby Al-Jadeed" that the indirect negotiations in Doha resolved the thorny points in the file of Palestinian prisoners with high sentences who are scheduled to be included in the exchange deal, noting that "90% of this file has been resolved and there are still some simple observations."

The leader stressed that "it can be said that we are about to announce reaching a real agreement unless any new demands or observations are added by the Israeli occupation government," adding that "the discussion of the proposed vision has been completed and understandings have been reached regarding all of its provisions."

This comes at a time when Hamas confirmed in an official statement issued by its leadership yesterday, Tuesday, "that in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place in Doha under the auspices of Qatari and Egyptian mediators, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation stops setting new conditions."

Sources had previously revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a leadership delegation from Hamas is scheduled to arrive in Cairo within two days to discuss the agreement file and the Gaza Administration Committee, which is a major part of the expected agreement, as it is scheduled to operate the Rafah land crossing according to the mechanism of the 2005 agreement with the occupation government, and for the authority to be on the Palestinian side of the crossing.

The arrival of the Hamas delegation to Cairo is scheduled to coincide with the arrival of an Israeli delegation to discuss points related to the agreement regarding the operation of the crossing and the nature of the Israeli presence in the Salah al-Din "Philadelphi" border corridor.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, today, Wednesday, based on an Egyptian invitation to hold in-depth discussions on his position rejecting the formation of a Gaza administration committee, despite Hamas’s announcement of its approval of it.

Abbas's talks are also expected to include developments in the West Bank and Israeli attempts to annex it, in light of estimates related to the support of the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump for this trend.

In this context, the Hamas leader told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the recent move by the Palestinian Authority against the resistance in the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank and its pursuit of the resistance fighters comes within the usual context of the Authority’s pursuit of the resistance in the West Bank, as has been its behavior since its inception, with a difference in the case of Jenin, where the Authority is exploiting, or thinking so, what happened to the axis in Lebanon and Syria to attack the resistance groups, describing them as part of Iran’s tools in the region,” considering that “some think that by doing so, they are providing the occupation with a service and completing their system of pressure on the axis of resistance in full.”

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed