By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) — The head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Qadoura Fares, said Monday he will travel to Qatar to follow up on a potential hostage swap deal amid intensive efforts to finalize an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
"I will be in Doha today to communicate with the Palestinian team there to ensure that the standards for completing the prisoner exchange deal are accurate and error-free," Fares told Anadolu.
"There are no specific details, and I’m not part of the negotiation team, but the issue of prisoners is not a matter of dispute; it enjoys national consensus."
Fares is a prominent defender of Palestinian prisoners’ rights.
Over the years, he founded and chaired the Palestinian Prisoner Society, a non-governmental organization, before being appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs in 2023.
On Friday, Israeli media reported that Qatar has sent a “positive message” to Israel regarding Hamas’ willingness to move forward with negotiations on the hostage deal.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing unnamed sources, said on Saturday that "90% of the details of the potential prisoner exchange deal have been agreed upon."
The prisoner swap and cease-fire talks, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, have been interrupted several times due to new conditions imposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli opposition and families of captives accuse Netanyahu of obstructing efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 46,500 victims, most of them women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul