ReutersArab mediators are awaiting a proper response from Israel after Hamas stated it had accepted a brand new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage launch deal.
The plan was offered by Qatar and Egypt, which are attempting to avert a significant new Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza absolutely.
Qatar stated it was “nearly similar” to a US proposal for a 60-day truce, throughout which round half of fifty hostages held in Gaza – 20 of whom are believed to be alive – could be handed over and the 2 sides would negotiate a long-lasting ceasefire and the return of the remaining.
In latest days, Israel’s authorities has stated it could not settle for a partial deal – solely a complete one that may see all of the hostages freed.
Native media quoted a senior Israeli official saying: “Israel’s place hasn’t modified – launch of all hostages and fulfilment of different situations outlined for ending the warfare.”
Later this week, the Israeli cupboard is anticipated to approve the army’s plan to occupy Gaza Metropolis, the place intensifying Israeli strikes have already prompted 1000’s of individuals to flee.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced Israel’s intention to overcome all of Gaza – together with the areas the place most of its 2.1 million Palestinian residents have sought refuge – after oblique talks with Hamas on a ceasefire deal broke down final month.
On Monday night time, a Hamas assertion introduced that the armed group and different Palestinian factions had permitted a ceasefire proposal offered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to their delegations in Cairo the day gone by.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu informed Al-Araby TV that that they had not sought any amendments to the proposal, which he described as “a partial deal resulting in a complete deal”.
He additionally emphasised that on the primary day of its implementation, negotiations would start with the purpose of agreeing a everlasting ceasefire.
“We hope that the 60 days of ceasefire can be adequate to conclude a remaining settlement that can utterly finish this warfare,” he stated.
Qatar’s overseas ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, informed reporters in Doha on Tuesday that the proposal was “98%” just like the one offered by US Center East envoy Steve Witkoff.
“I will not go into the main points of the language that’s on the desk proper now. However what I can say is that it is vitally shut, nearly similar to what was there on the desk,” Ansari stated.
“It’s inside the confines of the Witkoff plan… It is a continuation of that course of. Clearly, it is within the particulars the place the satan lies.”
Witkoff had proposed a 60-day truce that may see Hamas launch 10 dwelling hostages and the our bodies of 18 lifeless hostages in two phases, in change for lots of of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails. He additionally stated that negotiations on a remaining settlement to finish the warfare would start on the primary day of the deal.
Israel accepted Witkoff’s plan, however Hamas rejected it, partly as a result of it didn’t embrace a assure that the momentary ceasefire would result in a everlasting one.
ReutersIsraeli media reported that Israeli officers have been analyzing the brand new proposal and Hamas’s response.
Based on public broadcaster Kan, Netanyahu has not dominated out the potential of a partial deal regardless of his latest statements that he’ll solely settle for a complete deal.
On Saturday night time, his workplace put out an announcement saying that Israel would “comply with a deal provided that all of the hostages are launched in a single go, and in accordance with our situations for ending the warfare”.
These situations included the disarming of Hamas, the demilitarisation of Gaza, Israeli management of the Gaza perimeter, and the set up of a non-Hamas and non-Palestinian Authority governance, it added.
Netanyahu stated in a video on Monday that he had mentioned with senior Israeli army commanders their “plans relating to Gaza Metropolis and the completion of our missions”.
“Such as you, I hear the studies within the media, and from them you may get one impression – Hamas is below immense stress,” he added.
US President Donald Trump in the meantime wrote on social media: “We are going to solely see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The earlier this takes place, the higher the possibilities of success can be.”
Nevertheless, the households of hostages worry the brand new offensive in Gaza Metropolis might endanger these being held there.
On Sunday night time, lots of of 1000’s of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to demand that their authorities agree a take care of Hamas to finish the warfare now and produce all of the hostages dwelling. Netanyahu accused the demonstrators of hardening Hamas’s negotiating place.
The Israeli army launched a marketing campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, through which about 1,200 folks have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
At the very least 62,004 folks have been killed in Gaza since then, in accordance with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
Most of Gaza’s inhabitants has additionally been displaced a number of occasions; greater than 90% of houses are estimated to be broken or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene techniques have collapsed; and UN-backed world meals safety specialists have warned that the “worst-case situation of famine is at present enjoying out” as a consequence of meals shortages.
