Israel has been considering allowing the mastermind behind Hamas' October 7 attack to flee into exile in return for the release of hostages.
Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for 1,140 Israelis being killed, could flee Gaza with the rest of the terrorist group’s leadership under a possible deal.
Israel was initially intent on killing Sinwar and Mohammed Deif after the attack last year.
A similar agreement was reached in 1982 when Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organisation fled Beirut on a ship.
Families of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and protesters take part in a demonstration outside the Israeli cabinet meeting on February 8, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel
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A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We don’t mind if [Sinwar] will leave like Arafat left Lebanon.
“We will allow it to happen as long as all of the hostages are released.”
Netanyahu is facing growing pressure to free the remaining hostages kept in Gaza.
Families of the hostages have been pleading with the Israeli Prime Minister to agree to a deal.
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Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas' counter-offer
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There is even more concern about the health and safety of the hostages after 31 out of the 136 remaining hostages were declared dead.
Israel and the US proposed a ceasefire deal mediated by Qatar and Egypt earlier this week.
Details of the accord were not made public but Hamas submitted a counter-offer calling for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war after three 45-day truce periods.
However, Netanyahu labelled the proposal “delusional”.
There is even more concern about the health and safety of the hostages after 31 out of the 136 remaining hostages were declared dead.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes against GazaGETTYIsrael and the US proposed a ceasefire deal mediated by Qatar and Egypt earlier this week.
Details of the accord were not made public but Hamas submitted a counter-offer calling for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war after three 45-day truce periods.
However, Netanyahu labelled the proposal “delusional”.
He added: “Continued military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the hostages.”
Israel is facing growing calls to declare and ceasefire after mounting its counter-offensive against Gaza.
Hundreds of hostages have been released during the trucePAThe Strip’s Hamas-run Health Ministry claimed the total number of deaths hit 27,478 earlier this week.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, warned Israel that the death toll in Gaza is “too high” ahead of an expected ground invasion in Rafah.
Blinken said: “The daily toll that [Israel’s] military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high.
“Israelis were dehumanised in the most horrific way on Oct 7... The hostages have been dehumanised every day since.
“But that cannot be a license to dehumanise others.”
