Dr Anas Iqtait: Australia National University lecturer on Israel and Hamas agreeing to the first steps of proposed peace plan

There's confidence Israeli hostages will be released as early as this weekend, with Hamas and Israel today agreeing to the first phase of a peace plan.

It includes Hamas releasing hostages and Israel withdrawing some forces from Gaza. 

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the news - and urges Israel and Hamas to continue working towards a complete resolution.

Australian National University lecturer Anas Iqtait says this first phase could be carried out in the next 72 hours.

"It is highly likely that Israeli captives in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention camps and prisons will also be released."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
There is hope that the Israeli hostages may be released
as early as this weekend. Hamas and Israel have agreed
to the first phase of the cease fire deal. This
is Trump's deal now. This means the hostages will be
released and Israeli troops will retreat from the front lines
of Gaza. Anasak Tit is a senior lecturer in Arab
and Islamic studies at the Australian National University and with
US high on us.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
How do you rate the chances that the hostages will
be released this weekend?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, it is highly likely that Israeli captives in Gaza
and Palacinian prisoners held in Israeli detention camps and prisons
will also be released. It is also highly likely that
the agreement about the Israeli military withdrawing to a specific
line inside of Gaza will also be implemented in order

(00:49):
to facilitate the prisoners exchange. So this first step, which
is largely technical, will most likely be successful and will
be implemented over the next few hours or over the
seventy two hours rather.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Once Israel gets what it wants, which is its hostages back,
do you trust them to hold to the agreement.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
I think the agreement has many ambiguous pillars, which include
the point that you're alluding to, which is the fact
that once is role has the has its captives from Gaza,
that the war may be continued or the ongoing humanitarian
situation will continue to be at its catastrophic level or

(01:31):
as catastrophic as it is right now. So there are
very little guarantees in the plan itself. However, the fact
that an agreement has been reached suggests that guarantees have
been put in place. In addition to that, the way
that this agreement has been communicated, whether it is by
the United States or various participants in the negotiations over

(01:55):
the past few days, the way that they have communicating
the communicated disagreement suggests that there are guarantees about other
plans or other pillars in this plan being implemented.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Now do we know if Hamas has There's a couple
of really curly things, right, do we know if Hamas
has agreed to give up its arms and has it
agreed to step back from governance future governance of the
Gaza Strip.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
So, other than the technical aspects about prisoners exchanges and
limited Israeli withdrawals instead of Gaza. Nothing has been agreed yet.
This includes the future of the Gaza strip, the future
of Palestinian quality there, the future of governance in Gaza
is also complete withdrawal from Gaza, the lifting of the

(02:40):
humanitarian blockade and so on. So this hasn't been discussed
at this stage, although as I mentioned earlier, there seems
to be guarantees about at least these negotiations occurring. But
the most likely outcome is that the technical aspects will
be implemented mainly about prisoners exchanges, and then the political
aspects will more slightly for store for a very long

(03:02):
period of time.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
All right, anest, thanks very much on us Ktite, who's
the senior lecturer in Arab and Islamic studies. Just so
you know how this is being met. The news is
being met in Tel Aviv. As soon as the news
came through, families and friends of the hostages gathered together
and it was early morning for them and they chanted
Nobel Prize to Trump. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
Listen live to News Talks.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
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