TEL AVIV, January 16. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a video meeting with a group of Israeli negotiators in Doha on Thursday night and instructed them to reject last-minute attempts by the radical Palestinian Hamas movement to impose its terms, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the prime minister's office, told TASS.
"Netanyahu held a video meeting tonight with the Doha negotiating team, which briefed him on the latest attempts by Hamas to renegotiate the May 27 agreements. The prime minister instructed the team to insist on adhering to the agreed arrangements and to firmly reject last-minute pressure tactics by Hamas," the source said.
He added that "in particular, despite the clear clause granting Israel a veto power over the release of terrorists," the radical movement is pushing to decide on its own which Palestinian prisoners will be released by the Israeli side.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Wednesday evening that thanks to the mediatory efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held in the enclave.
The agreement will come into force on Sunday, January 19. During the 42-day first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages, including civilian and military women, as well as children, the elderly and the wounded in exchange for release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and detention centers. Apart from that, according to an Al Jazeera’s source, Israel will withdraw its troops to the enclave’s borders to a distance of 700 meters. Details of the second and third phases of the agreement, including complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, will be discussed during the implementation of phase one.