A new round of talks between Israel and Hamas opened Sunday morning, with the terrorist group offering to advance the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza to today—one day earlier than planned—if Israel agrees to free at least two of seven prominent Palestinian prisoners it is demanding, according to a report from the BBC.

The negotiations, mediated by regional and U.S. officials, are focused on resolving the final disputes over the prisoner list for the first phase of Washington’s Gaza ceasefire deal.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told the BBC that Hamas is continuing to press for the release of seven long-term inmates serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating mass-casualty terror attacks, including Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah figure once viewed as a potential successor to Mahmoud Abbas, and Ahmad Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected releasing those figures since the earliest stages of the negotiations. But the BBC report says Hamas is now signaling flexibility—proposing that if Israel frees just two of the seven, the hostages could be released as early as tonight rather than Monday morning.

It remains unclear how Israel will respond to the proposal, or what will happen if the demand is rejected. The talks are also addressing logistical questions surrounding the release of the roughly 20 surviving Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as well as the recovery and repatriation of the bodies of hostages believed to have been killed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)