Israel agrees to US-proposed prisoner-hostage exchange deal with Hamas

TEL AVIV: Israel has nodded to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange deal, under which Tel Aviv would release over 700 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to CNN.

Israel has agreed to make "significant compromises in order to return the abductees home," CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) also reported on Sunday, quoting a senior Israeli official.

Additionally, CNN also confirmed the update with a diplomatic source, who said outstanding issues remain, including the entry of aid, and "Israeli military repositioning" in Gaza.

Israel agreed to the proposal put forth by CIA Director Bill Burns. Burns was in Doha, where Hamas and Israel are engaged in talks through mediators, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravid reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha, Qatar.

The agreement has not gotten any approval from the Hamas side and it could take one to three days to respond to the deal, Ravid said.

"Those details need to go from Hamas representatives in Doha, who are negotiating, to the person who really calls the shots, and this is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, who is in a bunker some 100 feet under the ground, so this takes a long time," CNN analyst Ravid said.

Ravid said the proposed exchange will "definitely include some" American hostages, because it will include the release of men over the age of 50. Hamas' latest proposal this month demanded that some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be released. Israel, at that time, described the demands as "ridiculous" and "absurd."

CNN reported that the agreement, if it happens, is expected to have multiple phases. In the first stage, Hamas has proposed releasing the hostages, who are women, including Israeli soldiers, elderly, sick and wounded. That number is believed to be roughly 40 out of the around 100 hostages who remain alive.