Audio By Carbonatix
One thing you hear from some families of hostages is that they won't quite believe their loved one is coming home until they are walking through the door.
It's a good indicator of the lack of trust between the two sides, for very obvious reasons.
I was in a briefing with a former Israeli hostage negotiator earlier this week who said that the point in these negotiations is that, of course, there is absolutely no trust between Israel and Hamas. And what you effectively replace that with is a sort of confidence and a respect in the mediator, Qatar, which seems to have worked quite well.
They've got a lot of mechanics worked out - where the Red Cross is going to be, and that Israel will stop its drone surveillance above Gaza for six hours in the run up to the hostage release at 16:00 (the specific timings on the surveillance outage are according to the account of the deal by Hamas).
That’s probably because Hamas thinks Israel would use that intelligence to work out where the other hostages are being held.
Obviously, they are trying to conceal that from the Israelis so it’s possible they wouldn't have signed up to the release agreement if the drone surveillance was there.
Israeli officials have previously said they have “other intelligence gathering capabilities” for when there are no drones and balloons in the air.
Latest Stories
-
Visibility is the new currency; be seen or go broke
4 minutes -
TUTAG urges government to resource existing universities before expansion
14 minutes -
BoG cuts currency issuance cost to GH¢471m as cash in circulation rises to GH¢83.8bn
51 minutes -
US Health Deal: Ghana cannot cut off health aid overnight – Former Deputy Minister
1 hour -
Cutting off donor aid now would deepen health sector strain – Akwasi Acquah
2 hours -
Asutifi North targets zero exam malpractice in BECE – DCE
2 hours -
Atebubu-Amantin MP warns gov’t over food glut, dumsor crisis
2 hours -
We are living on borrowed time – Oppong Nkrumah
2 hours -
ECG invests GH¢1.11bn in Ashanti power upgrades to address supply fluctuations
2 hours -
Greater Accra REGSEC begins demolition of illegal structures at Sakumo Ramsar site
2 hours -
Ghana High Commission invites global investors to Ghana-UK Investment Summit 2026
2 hours -
BoG’s financial position raises concerns over policy credibility – Dr Hene Aku Kwapong
2 hours -
Ghana borrows GH¢20.48bn from Treasury bill auctions in April 2026
2 hours -
Seven teachers arrested over BECE infractions
2 hours -
World Bank launches strategy to transform West, Central Africa’s health systems
2 hours