Israel prepares to sign first phase of prisoner swap with Hamas within two days

Sources familiar with the matter, citing Hebrew Channel 14, said on Wednesday evening that Israel is preparing to sign the first phase of a deal with Hamas within two days — before the end of the fifth day of negotiations — which would include the return of all Israeli captives, both the living and the dead, in exchange for the release of a list of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas has requested be freed from Israeli prisons.

The sources said the deal “is preserved and closed, and appears to be on course to be signed,” noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed not to free “terror figures” such as Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, who will remain in prison, while Israel will stay on the “yellow line” with some minor adjustments.

As for the second phase of the deal, it will address dismantling Hamas’s weapons and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip, a topic to be discussed later. The sources said that families and “militias” that cooperated with Israel’s military during the war will not be left unprotected, although details have not yet been specified.

A senior Israeli official told Al Jazeera that the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh “are beginning to bear fruit, and the parties are cautiously approaching agreement on the first phase,” adding that U.S. pressure, including from former President Donald Trump, together with the Arab position, carries unprecedented weight, and that there are efforts to adjust the withdrawal map in the first phase.

A U.S. official told Reuters there was “cautious optimism about reaching an agreement soon,” describing the negotiations as having reached a “crucial stage,” while Hamas sources denied reports that the organization had demanded the bodies of Yahya and Mohammed al-Sinwar, calling that “false information intended to influence the negotiations.”