November 17, 2023, 11:57 PM ET
Hamas has asked Israel to stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza during hostage negotiations, officials say
From CNN’s Alex Marquardt, Kaitlan Collins, MJ Lee and Oren Lieberman
As part of its request for Israel to suspend military operations in exchange for the release of hostages held by the terror group, two Israeli officials and a third source familiar with the ongoing negotiations said Hamas He called for an end to surveillance drone flights over Gaza.
Israel may suspend military operations for several days to free many hostages, but officials indicated it was unlikely to accept the drone request. This is because it means that the movements of Hamas operatives, including any efforts, cannot be tracked. This is to move hostages within the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s request for drone overflights has not been reported so far and remains hotly debated, so whether this request remains on the negotiating table or has already been formally rejected by Israel as part of negotiations It is unknown whether
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment Friday.
The Israeli military flies drones over Gaza virtually every day for hours during military operations, using them as a primary surveillance tool to monitor the battlefield.
Throughout negotiations, Israel has balanced its earnest desire to have the hostages released with concerns that Hamas will only use the moratorium to curb Israel’s military advantage and rally. .
Pausing the fighting would require Israel to move its drones out of Gaza airspace, depriving the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of one of its most important ways to monitor Hamas movements from the air. This would allow Hamas to reposition its fighters before the ceasefire expires with Israeli forces exposed on the ground, giving Hamas an opportunity to readjust where hostages are hiding.
The Pentagon is also flying U.S. surveillance drones over Gaza to aid Israel’s efforts to search for hostages, including an estimated 10 Americans. U.S. officials said the U.S. intelligence being collected was not used to carry out a deadly attack.
Detailed background of the negotiations: Mediation between the negotiating parties, Israel, Hamas, the United States and Qatar, continues to try to reach an agreement on a number of difficult issues. These include how many days a potential cessation of fighting would last and how many hostages would be released, according to people familiar with the talks.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Friday, according to a person familiar with the call. Qatar has hosted hostage talks involving Israeli and US intelligence chiefs. This was the second telephone conversation between the two this week.
The first hostages scheduled to be released are women and children. Hamas is also calling for the simultaneous release of women and children in Israeli prisons. Other demands made by Hamas during the negotiations, officials said, include more aid and fuel to Gaza and a return of Palestinians who fled south in search of safety to northern Gaza, which is now under Israeli control. It’s about acknowledging that.