The Palestinian organization Hamas has received a draft proposal from the talks being held in Paris, aimed at reaching a truce in the war in Gaza, which provides a 40-day halt to all military operations and a 10-for-1 exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostagesa source close to the talks told Reuters today.

Under the proposal, hospitals and bakeries in Gaza would be repaired, 500 trucks of humanitarian aid would enter the enclave every day and thousands of tents and caravans would be handed over to those who have lost their homes, the source added.

The draft also states that Hamas will release 40 Israeli hostages, including women, children under 19, people over 50 and the sick. For its part, Israel will release 400 Palestinian prisoners and not arrest them again, the source said.

The talks appear to be the most serious attempt in weeks to reach a truce in the war in the Gaza Strip and free hostages held by Hamas.

Mediators have stepped up efforts to broker a ceasefire in hopes of averting an Israeli assault on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge.

The American president Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to suspend military operations in Gaza during Ramadan, which runs from March 10 to April 9, and expressed hope that a cease-fire agreement would be finalized by next Monday.

“Ramadan is coming and there is an agreement by the Israelis that they will not engage in operations during Ramadan to give us time to get all the hostages” still held in Gaza, Biden explained in an interview with NBC television network.

At the same time, the American president added that Israel pledged to make it possible to remove the Palestinians from Rafah, before intensifying its military operations there.

APE/Reuters