what we know about the negotiations on the release of hostages

“We have never been so close to an agreement,” said the Qatari Foreign Ministry, which is mediating the matter. Nearly 240 people are still missing since October 7.

Negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip after their kidnapping on October 7 in Israel are in their “final phase”declared an official from Qatar, mediator in this matter. “We have never been closer to an agreement”said the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al-Ansari, Tuesday, November 21. “We are very optimistic and full of hope”he declared during a press briefing in Doha. “We also hope that this mediation will result in a humanitarian truce.”

The fate of the hostages remains unknown

According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people – the vast majority civilians – were killed during the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7. Some 240 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip, according to this source. Since then, these Israelis and dual nationals have been in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group which participated in the terrorist operation. So far, mediation efforts have led to the release of four hostages.

At this stage, few details have been provided on the fate reserved for people detained by Palestinian fighters. The International Committee of the Red Cross and its Red Crescent branch, in particular, were unable to meet them. It remains to be seen whether all these captive people are alive. Last Thursday, the Israeli army claimed to have discovered the lifeless body of a sixty-year-old hostage near the al-Chifa hospital in Gaza.

Doha plays a key role in mediation

Qatar is involved with Egypt and the United States in the negotiations. Washington asked Doha to intervene from the first hours of the conflict, according to information from France Télévisions. The emirate, which shelters Hamas figures on its soil, also finances aid to Gazans with billions of dollars channeled by the United Nations. The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, also made a stop in the emirate during a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, undoubtedly to remind his hosts that France had eight nationals “disappeared”whose release she hoped for.

The terms are still confidential

“We are getting closer to concluding a truce agreement”, Hamas leader-in-exile Ismaïl Haniyeh declared Monday evening. In the evening, the Red Cross announced that its president, Mirjana Spoljaric, had met this leader of the Islamist movement in Qatar, in order to“advance on humanitarian issues linked to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza”. But these different actors have not communicated details of the ongoing negotiations.

At this stage, the details of a possible agreement therefore remain unknown. Is there any question of bringing back all the hostages? Contacted by AFP, two sources close to the matter declared that the talks focused in particular on an agreement providing for the release of “50 to 100” civilian hostages, in exchange for the release of 300 women and children held by Israel. However, this version of the text has not yet been confirmed by an official source.

A humanitarian truce is mentioned

A possible exchange could be announced at the same time as a five-day humanitarian truce, add those close to the case interviewed by AFP. This provides “a complete ceasefire and an end to the overflight of Israeli planes over the Gaza Strip, except over the north of the territory where planes will be able to fly for 18 hours a day”. Which is far from being a detail, since 800,000 people are still in the sector, according to the UN. The agreement would also include the entry of 100 to 300 trucks of food and medical aid as well as fuel, this time throughout the territory.

Family anger grows in Israel

In Israel, the government remains under pressure, almost two months after the attack. Last weekend, several thousand demonstrators arrived in Jerusalem, after several days of a march that began in Tel Aviv to demand the return of the hostages. For several weeks, the Hostage Families Forum has been increasing its criticism against the authorities, whose silence they regret regarding the actions put in place to obtain releases.

The government is divided on the issue

On Monday, for the first time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally met several relatives of hostages, without revealing the nature of the ongoing talks or confirming the hypothesis of an agreement. “We are making progress”he simply said the next day, while visiting a military base in northern Israel. “I don’t think it’s helpful to say too much… but I hope there will be some good news soon.” But within his government itself, representatives of a hard line are ready to step up to the plate.

The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, spoke out against a possible agreement on Tuesday, as reported by the website Timesofisrael.com. The far-right leader of the Jewish Force party said he was concerned about “a deal that could lead to disaster”. And to cite the possible release of Palestinian prisoners as well as the delivery of fuel to the Gaza Strip, which he fears will be confiscated by Hamas.