Hamas has responded to Israel’s US-backed ceasefire plan for the Gaza war with its own far-reaching proposals for a permanent end to the fighting.
Although Israel is almost certain to refuse, the group appears to be open to further negotiations, a position that mediators view as positive.
Hamas submitted the three-phase plan late Tuesday through intermediaries in Qatar and Egypt. Under the plan, Palestinian militants would exchange 1,500 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages captured on October 7, ensure the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and eliminate Israeli military forces, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. Ensure complete evacuation and exchange of bodies and ashes.
The proposal envisages a three-phase ceasefire of 45 days each. This was in response to a plan proposed by Israel two weeks ago for a six-week cessation of hostilities and the gradual release of an estimated 130 Israelis still held hostage in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. It is.
Under the Hamas plan, all Israeli hostages – women, men under 19, the elderly and the sick – would be released in an initial 45-day phase in exchange for Palestinian women and children in Israeli prisons. Become. The remaining male hostages will be released in the second stage, and their bodies will be exchanged in the third stage. Hamas expects both sides to reach an agreement on ending the war by the end of the third phase.
The ceasefire agreement would also increase the flow of food and other aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million desperate civilians, who face severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
Israel has not yet publicly commented on the details of Hamas’ proposal, but anonymous officials told local media that demands for an end to the war “are not the beginning.” “Hamas’ response means a rejection of the deal,” a senior Israeli official told the country’s Channel 12 News.
U.S. President Joe Biden also commented on Hamas’s counteroffer, saying, “We have a response from Hamas, but it seems like it’s going a little too far…Negotiations are ongoing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until there is complete victory over Hamas. But Israel’s unofficial position is likely to be more realistic.
Columnist Yoav Limor argued in the Israeli daily Israel Hayom: “Hamas’s response is an opening position, certainly a very high opening position, but it does not completely exclude the possibility of reaching an agreement.
“Obviously, Israel will not agree to the exhaustive terms put forward by Hamas…However, Israel will not agree to the details such as the ceasefire period, the amount of aid allowed to Gaza, and, of course, the number of aid. I am willing to discuss the identity of the prisoner who will be released in exchange for the hostage. Perhaps that’s what will happen now. ”
A major issue in the negotiations so far has been how many Palestinians to free. A week-long ceasefire in November saw the release of 110 Israelis in exchange for 240 Palestinians, mostly women and children, who had been held for minor offenses or in administrative detention. However, the new list is believed to include hardened extremists serving life sentences.
Both sides are keen to blame the other side for not reaching a second ceasefire agreement. Hamas has set terms that are highly unlikely to be accepted by Israel, but Netanyahu faces the possibility that his far-right coalition government will collapse if Israel agrees to any kind of ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel overnight as part of his latest whistleblowing diplomatic visit to the region aimed at stemming the escalating violence across the Middle East sparked by the Gaza war.
Israel launched a military offensive in the Strip after Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages in a devastating attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
At least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations, and thousands more are feared buried under rubble, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip health ministry. According to the United Nations, about 85% of the 2.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes and more than half of the besieged Palestinian territory’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
