Qatar and Egypt have been mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinian radical movement Hamas for several months. The leader of the movement, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Monday that Hamas agrees to a cease-fire agreement with Israel. He must now decide whether to accept the cease-fire in Gaza or “defend it”, France24 quotes one of the high-ranking representatives of the Palestinian movement.
“After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a cease-fire, the ball is now in the court of the Israeli occupation whether to accede to the cease-fire agreement or to thwart it,” a Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
Israel is supposed to look like the bad guy
France24 also points out that the conditions – which Hamas accepted – do not correspond exactly to what Israel has agreed to in the past. Its representatives are therefore skeptical, the Times of Israel points out. The same is described by the Reuters agency, which one of the Israeli officials told on the condition of anonymity that Hamas is purposefully putting Israel in a difficult position.
“This appears to be a ploy to make Israel look like a party rejecting the deal,” he said. Indeed, the proposal resembles a “moderate” version of the Egyptian one, which contained conclusions with which Israel did not agree. For example, it is about the timing of the complete end of the war. Indeed, Hamas demands that the war end in the first, 40-day, phase of the agreement – not in the second or third.
The deal agreed to by the Palestinian movement should include a ceasefire, the restoration of the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced Palestinians or a prisoner exchange, a Hamas official told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the streets of Rafah are celebrating. Citing a correspondent there, AFP reports that people there are crying with happiness, chanting “Allahu Akbar” – which translates to “God is the greatest” – and shooting in the air to celebrate the news.
Make a deal, hostage families urge
Several families of hostages held in Gaza blocked Tel Aviv’s main road, Begin Road, demanding that Israel accede to a deal to release the hostages, although it is unclear what deal Hamas has acceded to.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, tells Channel 12, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Your hour has come. Be brave, be a leader. The government and the war cabinet should accept the agreement. We need our hostages at home. All in one.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for example, welcomed the news of Hamas’ stance and expressed hope that Israel would do the same.
According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, the United States has received Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal. They are currently working on the deal, researching it and discussing the proposal with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Meanwhile, CIA chief Bill Burns remains in the region to try to secure a deal that the US says is in the best interests of both Israel and the Palestinians, Miller says.
Fighting in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7 last year, has so far been interrupted only by a week-long cease-fire at the end of November.
The war between Israel and Hamas in data
A selection of the main events surrounding the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7 last year (the Israeli army today began the evacuation of part of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip; according to the media, Hamas agreed to a proposal for a cease-fire agreement):
2023:
October 7th – Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and does not recognize the existence of Israel, attacked southern Israel in the morning with rockets, but also carried out a ground attack and attempted an airdrop from the sea. Palestinian radicals killed Israeli civilians and soldiers, and took others hostage to the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli sources, Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people, including infants, women and the elderly (of which there were about 300 Israeli soldiers and about 200 foreigners). It was the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. The attack on a music festival, where 360 people died, became a symbol of Hamas terror. About 250 people were kidnapped, including Israelis and foreigners.
– Israel responded the same day by bombing the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government declared a state of war a day later, and on October 9, 300,000 reservists were drafted into the Israeli army (the largest draft in the country’s history) and a total blockade of the Gaza Strip was announced.
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We have updated the article in its entirety.
