At the same time, Ha’arecu’s source said that Hamas’s response will directly determine whether it will be possible to complete the agreement quickly. He pointed out, however, that the differences in the attitudes of the two warring parties remain “dramatic”.
Israeli negotiators made up of the military and the Shin Bet and Mossad secret services have told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that Israel is willing to be significantly more flexible on how many Palestinians can return to the northern Gaza Strip. Until now, Hamas has demanded that all residents of the area be allowed to return, Ha’arec recalls.
“The two sides are very far apart. We will have to wait for the reaction of Hamas to find out if it intends to implement the agreement, because until now it has refused to compromise on positions that Israel is not willing to accept,” said one of the foreign diplomats, according to an Israeli daily.
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Israel has previously stated that it will not agree to Hamas’ demand for the abolition of security checkpoints, which are supposed to ensure that Hamas fighters do not enter the northern part of Gaza and do not smuggle weapons there. In doing so, the Israelis would allow terrorists to settle there again, and violence would flare up again there as well.
The head of Hamas may not even care about a cease-fire
Israeli sources recently pointed out that the government has lost significant leverage over Hamas by agreeing to a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been one of Hamas’s main demands in recent months.
One of the sources involved in the talks said that it is not at all clear whether the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinvár, is even interested in concluding a deal. Another diplomatic source expressed concern that unless the talks are concluded in the coming week, before the end of Ramadan, it will be difficult to conclude any deal of a similar scale to the one now being discussed.
The Hamas terrorist movement attacked southern Israel on Saturday, October 7. During the attack, the terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted over 260 others to the Gaza Strip. About 130 of them are still being held, Israeli authorities estimate that at least several dozen of them are already dead.
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Near and Middle East
