The Times of Israel reports: “Hamas is prepared to release all of the remaining hostages at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the ongoing truce talks told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

Amid Israel’s longstanding rejection of this type of trade, Hamas is still prepared to release a number of hostages as part of a renewed temporary ceasefire.

However, Hamas wants guarantees from the mediators that Israel will agree to subsequently enter negotiations on ending the war, said the Palestinian official, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has to date refused to do.

Hamas has insisted on sticking to the original terms of the January deal, which envisioned a transition to phase two on March 2. That phase is supposed to see the return of all remaining living hostages in exchange for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent end to the war…”