Two sources involved in the mediation effort between Israel and Hamas told the Times of Israel this morning that Israel has pulled back on its demand for military control of Gaza territory, such that a ceasefire deal could be concluded in about a week. Israel submitted a new series of maps earlier this week representing the troop redeployment that it envisions during the truce. The maps showed that Israel has come down from demands to hold onto large swaths of territory inside Gaza that it has occupied since the previous ceasefire in January, the two sources said.
After demanding for weeks to remain in the Morag Corridor—which separates the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Younis—in order to maintain a buffer zone that extended 5 km north from the Egyptian border, the new maps show that Israel has agreed to remove its forces from that 12 km strip, the sources said.
Instead, Israel has reportedly reduced its demand for the Rafah buffer zone to extend a little over 1 im in what an Arab diplomat said neutralizes Jerusalem’s earlier plans to create a controversial “humanitarian city” to which Gaza’s population would be moved. Israel has also agreed to keep its forces in a perimeter around the rest of the Strip that is also 1 km wide, after initially insisting on a 2- or 3-km perimeter, the two sources said.
In a further sign of progress, Hamas—upon receiving the updated Israeli maps—lifted its veto on discussing terms for the hostage-prisoner swap, the sources said, adding that the group agreed to discuss the ratio of security prisoners it would accept in exchange for each hostage. The current proposal would see the release of 10 living hostages and 18 slain hostages in five batches throughout the two-month truce.
