Israel is ready for a hostage deal, an Israeli official told CNN on Tuesday, adding that the ball was now in Hamas's court.
“We think that we’ve made all the compromises that are needed to bring a deal. It’s in the hands of Hamas, and they need to make this decision,” the official noted.
The official further affirmed that “Until Hamas will tell us how many of our hostages are alive, I don’t know how many prisoners – terrorists – will be released,” which he asserted could be "many hundreds."
According to a later CNN update, citing an Egyptian official, Hamas has yet to respond to the draft agreement.
Hamas reportedly agrees to draft
An earlier report on Tuesday by the Associated Press, citing two officials involved in the negotiations, claimed that Hamas has agreed to the proposed ceasefire deal in Gaza and the release of numerous hostages.
According to the report, an Israeli official noted that while progress had been made, the final details were still under discussion.