Israel may have to release more Palestinian prisoners - Biden
Photo: U.S. President Joe Biden (GettyImages)
President of the United States, Joe Biden, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it may be necessary to release more Palestinian prisoners, reports AXIOS.
According to Biden, within any new agreement with Israel regarding hostages, it may be necessary to release more Palestinian prisoners for each released hostage than during the previous pause in hostilities in Gaza, two official sources from the U.S. and Israel reported.
The number of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas demands Israel to release in the framework of a new hostage agreement is a key issue in indirect negotiations between the parties.
During their phone call on Sunday, Netanyahu told Biden that, "unlike some reports in the Israeli press," he does indeed want to conclude a new hostage agreement. However, he emphasized that it must be an agreement that can be approved by the Israeli cabinet, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Netanyahu said that the proposal agreed upon by the U.S., Israel, Qatar, and Egypt in Paris two weeks ago was "very generous" because Israel agreed to more than 10 times the number of days for a pause in hostilities than in the initial part of the previous hostage agreement. The Paris proposal includes a six-week pause in hostilities in exchange for the release of approximately 40 hostages as part of the first stage of the operation.
War in Israel
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip. Terrorists carried out mass killings and abductions of military and civilian individuals, simultaneously launching rocket attacks on the country's major cities.
Earlier, it became known that Biden shared details of a new peace plan between Israel and Hamas.
Egypt threatens to suspend the peace agreement with Israel if the IDF attacks Rafah.
