Israel's former Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, says the country will release all of its Hamas prisoners if the rebel Palestinian group frees the Israeli hostages it captured during its attack on the country on October 7.

Israel says Hamas captured 222 people, including elderly women and babies. On Monday the group released two hostages, including Yocheved Lifshitz, a frail 85-year-old grandmother, but has so far refused to release any more.

As Hamas holds on to its hostages, Israel is continuing its bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip while limiting the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter the region. The result has been the deaths of the nearly 7,000 people – despite Israel's insistence that Hamas militants are its sole target.

Diplomats are now hard at work attempting to broker an agreement between the two parties, with Qatar acting as a mediator. An agreement still appears to be some way off – but Ayalon believes a specific set of terms could be enough to strike a deal.

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He told CGTN Europe: "If Hamas is willing to let all the hostages out – and most of them are civilians, 85-year-old ladies and babies – if they are out, Israel will be willing to release all the Hamas prisoners, and there are quite a few thousands of them. I think that would be a fair deal. The question is, will Hamas take it?"

Even if so, Ayalon fears it will still be several days before any firm action is taken. "I'm afraid it's going to be days, more than hours," he added. "There are intense blocks, especially between Doha in Qatar and the Hamas people. 

"If all the hostages are released, it certainly will clear the way for the IDF to go and mop up the bunkers of Hamas, just like the Allied forces in 1945 mopped up the map of Hitler and the Nazis."

Western leaders have offered a mixed response to the conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden and a host of European heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have backed Israel's response. 

But Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Tayipp Erdogan have accused Israel of violating international law and risking the lives of millions of civilians. Ayalon says Hamas is the side guilty of carrying out war crimes and highlighted Israeli attempts to protect Palestinians. 

He said: "What Israel has done for the last two days is urge the people of Gaza to leave all of the positions of Hamas. You see that Hamas is perpetrating a double war crime because they're targeting our civilians and they're using their own civilians as human shields. 

"So what we're trying to do is separate that. And we have prepared with the international community a safe area for them in the southern part of Gaza. The idea is that they leave to the southern [part] of Gaza – by the way, just like our own population in the south is leaving to the north side so they are also out of harm's way. So then we can really reach Hamas without fear of hurting civilians." 

Humanitarian groups are continuing to struggle to deliver aid to civilians. Ayalon says a new system must be put in place to ensure aid reaches those who need it after accusing Hamas of stealing vital resources.

"UNRWA [The United Nations Relief and Works Agency] itself reported, and they put it on Twitter, that the gasoline for their own purposes was actually taken and stolen by Hamas," he said. "So what we are saying is that it has to be kind of a system of verification where everything that goes into Gaza goes to the population and not Hamas."

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