► Around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released after truce agreement
Two Palestinian sources close to Hamas-led negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday (January 14) that around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released in the first phase of a cease-fire agreement. fire, in exchange for 33 hostages.
“Israel will release around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including several sentenced to heavy sentences”said one of the two sources. These statements echo information given to journalists by an Israeli government official on condition of anonymity, according to which “several hundred terrorists would be released” during the first phase of the truce in the Palestinian territory.
► The “main problems” blocking an agreement have been resolved according to Qatar
Qatar, the mediating country between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, said the main obstacles to a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip had been resolved during the latest discussions in Doha.
Major questions “have been resolved during the talks over the past two weeks, and we have reached a point where the main issues preventing a deal from being reached have been resolved”Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference.
► Release of 33 hostages planned in the first phase of the truce
The first phase of a truce deal in the Gaza Strip currently being negotiated in Qatar would see the release of 33 Israeli hostages, according to sources close to the negotiations and Israeli media.
Two sources close to the negotiations indicated that this first phase included the release of 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. A liberation in groups, starting with children and women ».
The Times of Israel daily, citing Israeli officials, also states that “the first phase of the agreement would include 33 humanitarian cases”.
► A “final round” of negotiations begins in Qatar
And “last cycle” talks for a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza are due to begin on Tuesday January 14 in Doha, Qatar to end more than 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory, said a source close to the negotiations.
“A final round of talks is expected to take place today (Tuesday) in Doha”between the heads of Israeli intelligence agencies, the American mediators and the Prime Minister of Qatar on one side, and the mediators and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on the other.
► A missile from Yemen fired towards Israel
The Israeli army announced that it had “probably intercepted” a missile fired from Yemen, after having reported the day before the neutralization of another projectile from the same country.
“Following sirens that sounded in a number of areas of central Israel, several attempts were made to intercept a missile launched from Yemen”reported the army in a press release. “The missile was probably intercepted”she added, indicating that no injuries or damage had been reported.
Later Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they fired “a Palestine 2 type hypersonic ballistic missile”in a press release published on Telegram.
Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023 in the Gaza Strip between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel, the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa, have fired missiles and drones towards Israel.
► “Significant progress” in discussions for a truce in Gaza
Of the “significant progress” were recorded during the latest round of indirect talks aimed at reaching a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a source close to the discussions said on Monday.
“We are close to seeing a proposal, which I presented in detail several months ago, finally come to fruition”declared for his part US President Joe Biden during a speech on his diplomatic record at the State Department, affirming that his administration was working “urgently to conclude this agreement”one week away from handing over to Donald Trump.