Hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza have risen further after reports that Hamas has given its initial approval of a new US-backed proposal for a phased deal. Egyptian officials and representatives of the militant Islamist organization confirmed that Hamas had dropped a key demand that Israel commits to a definitive end to the war before any pause in hostilities, Reuters and the Associated Press reported.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over recent days, with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel, and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based. Observers said any progress was welcome, but pointed out that multiple rounds of negotiations over more than seven months had so far failed to bring success.
With all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah looming, and casualties in Gaza still mounting, pressure to end the war is high. A Hezbollah official said last week the group would cease fire as soon as any Gaza deal took effect, echoing previous statements. On Thursday, the Iran-backed organization fired 200 rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed one of its top commanders. “If there is a Gaza agreement, then from zero hour there will be a ceasefire in Lebanon,” the Hezbollah official said.
The White House has described the latest Hamas ceasefire proposal as a “breakthrough.” Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, confirmed on Friday that the director of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, had been sent to make an urgent visit to Qatar, but his office said “gaps between the parties” remained.
The proposed deal would involve a first phase including the release by Hamas of elderly, sick, and female hostages during a six-week truce, an Israeli withdrawal from cities in Gaza, and the release of Palestinian detainees held by Israel. Further phases could include the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, in return for additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Eventually, any remaining hostages would be returned, including bodies of dead captives, and a start made on the immensely expensive and complex task of reconstructing Gaza.
A key obstacle to a deal until this week had been widely differing views on how the agreement would move from its first phase to its second. Hamas wants strong guarantees over the path to a permanent ceasefire, but Netanyahu had publicly cast doubt on whether that would happen, vowing to complete the destruction of the group, which had run Gaza for nearly two decades before it launched its surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October.
A Hamas representative told the Associated Press the group’s approval came after it received “verbal commitments and guarantees” from the mediators that the war would not be resumed and that negotiations would continue until a permanent ceasefire was reached. “Now we want these guarantees on paper,” he said.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after the attack by Hamas in October, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
The US secretary of state hopes Hamas will accept what he has called Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal. Antony Blinken was speaking as a Hamas delegation discussed the new proposal with mediators from Egypt and Qatar. A source close to the talks told the BBC they were cautiously optimistic.
The proposal includes a 40-day truce in return for the release of hostages and the prospect of displaced families being allowed back to northern Gaza. It reportedly also involves new wording on restoring calm meant to satisfy Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire. The Hamas delegation has now left Cairo and will return with a written response to the proposal, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said.
The Israeli government is coming under growing pressure from its global allies and the families of the hostages to agree to a deal. Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage. More than 34,480 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 of the hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been attempting for weeks to broker a new agreement that would secure another pause in the fighting and the release of the 133 hostages who Israel says are still being held, at least 30 of whom are presumed dead.
Earlier this month, Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal for a six-week truce and the release of 40 women, children, and elderly or sick hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas said it was sticking to its demands for a permanent ceasefire that would lead to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
The source close to the talks in Cairo told the BBC that the new proposal from Israel was significantly different from previous offers. It also included a willingness to “discuss the establishment of a sustainable ceasefire as part of the implementation of the second phase of the deal,” the officials said.
Israeli officials and a diplomat meanwhile told the New York Times and Financial Times on Monday that Israel was also prepared to reduce the number of hostages released during the first phase to 33, down from 40. Hamas has only said publicly that it is studying the new Israeli proposal, but an unnamed senior official told AFP news agency on Sunday that “the atmosphere is positive unless there are new Israeli obstacles.” “There are no major issues in the observations and inquiries submitted by Hamas regarding the contents [of the proposal],” they added.
Mr. Blinken also expressed optimism at a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, which was attended by several of his European and Arab counterparts. “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous, on the part of Israel. And in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas,” he said. “They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly… And I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country is a mediator in the Israel-Hamas negotiations along with Qatar, also said he was “hopeful.” “The proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides and has tried to extract moderation,” he said. “There are factors that will have an impact on both sides’ decisions, but I hope that all will rise to the occasion.”
Sunday’s phone call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have focused on the negotiations. They also discussed the need to sustain a recent increase in aid reaching Gaza and continued US opposition to a full-scale offensive on the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced people are sheltering.
Local medics and rescuers said at least 22 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on three homes in Rafah overnight. “We demand the entire world calls for a lasting truce. This is enough,” a man called Abu Taha told AFP at al-Najjar hospital, as a crowd of relatives mourned over the shrouded bodies. There was no immediate comment on the reports from the Israeli military.
Meanwhile, children in Rafah told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today radio program that rising temperatures were making life unbearable in the thousands of tents and makeshift shelters erected there. “Being inside the tent does not protect me from the intense heat; it is as if I am standing directly under sun’s rays,” said Sarah Abu Amr, 11. “There is no electricity to power fans or get cold water to ease the terrible effect of the heat, and there is no food, water, or anything at all to keep us hydrated.”
Last week, when temperatures reached 40C (104F), a five-month-old girl reportedly died in a tent due to the extreme heat, according to the UN. Over the weekend, there were further indications from senior Israeli generals that plans were being finalized for a major operation in Rafah, where the military says Hamas’s remaining battalions and leaders are based.
But Mr. Blinken – who is due to fly from Saudi Arabia to Jordan and Israel – noted that the US had “not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas – a rival of Hamas who is based in the occupied West Bank – said on Sunday that the US was the only country capable of preventing an assault on Rafah, which he warned would cause “the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people.”
Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that Israel’s military would “suspend the operation” in Rafah if a hostage release deal was agreed. But far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Mr. Netanyahu not to cancel the Rafah assault, saying that if he failed to destroy Hamas “the government headed by you will have no right to exist.”
Source: Reuters, Associated Press, BBC News
