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Qatar Seeking Israel-Hamas Deal to Free 50 Hostages and 3-Day Truce, Sources Say
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
Qatari mediators were on Wednesday seeking to negotiate a deal between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of around 50 civilian hostages from Gaza in exchange for a three-day ceasefire, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
The deal, under discussion, which has been coordinated with the US, would also see Israel release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said.
It would mark the biggest release in hostages held by Hamas since the Palestinian terrorist group burst over the Gaza border, massacred over 1,200 people across southern Israel, and took more than 240 hostages into the enclave on Oct. 7.
Hamas has agreed to the general outlines of this deal, but Israel has not and it is still negotiating the details, the official said.
It is not known how many Palestinian women and children Israel would release from its jails as part of the agreement under discussion.
The scope of the Qatari-led negotiations has changed significantly in recent weeks, but the fact that the talks are now focused on the release of 50 civilian prisoners in exchange for a three-day truce and that Hamas has agreed to the outline of the deal have not been reported before.
The wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which has ambitious foreign policy goals, has a direct line of communication with Hamas and Israel. It has previously helped mediate truces between the two.
Such a deal would require Hamas handing over a complete list of remaining living civilian hostages held in Gaza.
A more comprehensive release of all hostages is not currently under discussion, the official said.
There was no immediate response from Israeli officials, who have previously declined to provide detailed comment on the hostage negotiations, citing reluctance to undermine the diplomacy or fuel reports they deemed “psychological warfare” by Palestinian terrorists.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hamas political office in Doha declined comment.
Qatar, where Hamas operates a political office and the top leadership of the terror group lives in luxury, has been leading mediation between the militant group and Israeli officials for the release of more than 240 hostages. They were taken by Hamas terrorists when they rampaged into Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel responded with a military campaign of air strikes and ground operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza with the goal of destroying the terror group.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, who is in the war cabinet, said at a news conference on Wednesday: “Even if we are required to pause fighting in order to return our hostages, there will be no stopping the combat and the war until we achieve our goals.”
Asked to elaborate on what is hindering the hostage deal, Gantz declined to give any details.
Previously, talks had focused on Hamas releasing up to 15 hostages and a pause in the Gaza fighting of up to three days, sources in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East said.
There was no immediate comment from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hamas political office in Doha.
Two Egyptian security sources said there was only agreement so far on limited truces in specific areas of Gaza. They said Israel had shown reluctance to commit to any wider deal, but appeared to have moved closer to doing so by Tuesday.
Hamas’ armed Qassam Brigades said on Monday that it had told Qatari negotiators it was willing to release up to 70 women and children in return for a five-day truce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that “we have been working relentlessly for the release of the hostages, including using increased pressure since the start of the ground incursion.”
Any deal faces many obstacles.
It is unclear whether Hamas is currently able to compile an accurate list of hostages it holds since the war has caused it communications and organizational problems in Gaza, a Western diplomat in the region said.
Gathering the hostages for any simultaneous release, which Israel wants, would be logistically difficult without a ceasefire, said another source in the region with knowledge of the negotiations.
There had also been uncertainty over whether the military and political leadership of Hamas were in agreement, though this was later resolved, and also concern that Israeli military pressure was making a deal harder, the same source said.
The post Qatar Seeking Israel-Hamas Deal to Free 50 Hostages and 3-Day Truce, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.