Just a deceptive maneuver?

Hamas agrees to proposal for ceasefire in Gaza

Bombardment east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

(Bild: AFP)

Negotiations over a possible ceasefire in the Gaza war continue to be tough: According to its own statements, the Islamist Hamas has agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to insiders, however, the offer made by the mediating states Egypt and Qatar is not acceptable to Israel.

It is a "watered-down" Egyptian draft, said an insider. It contains "far-reaching" conclusions that Israel does not agree with. A government representative reacted more cautiously and said that the proposal was being examined. However, the plan deviates from an earlier Israeli draft, he told the AP news agency.

Earlier, the head of the Hamas politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed both mediators that Hamas had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire agreement. To this end, he had spoken on the phone with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and the Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. However, Hamas circles in the Lebanese capital Beirut said that this was a "key development".

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

(Bild: APA/AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Hamas deception?
It was also unclear whether this was a proposal that Israel had also agreed to, as the negotiations were conducted "indirectly". The Israeli television station Channel 12 reported that Israel was waiting for information from the mediators. According to the broadcaster, an unnamed cabinet member spoke of a "deceptive maneuver" by Hamas to portray Israel as a refusenik. Israeli police minister and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir was even more explicit: according to Israeli media, he believes that Hamas' agreement to the mediators' proposal is a "trick". "There is only one response to Hamas' tricks and games: an immediate order to conquer Rafah, increase military pressure and continue to harass Hamas until it is completely defeated," said Ben-Gvir.

Israel and Hamas have not been negotiating directly with each other for months, but there have been talks. The focus of these talks was recently moved from Qatar to Egypt. On 7 October, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist organizations abducted more than 250 people in the Gaza Strip. During a week-long ceasefire at the end of November last year, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from its jails. It was recently feared that many of the 133 hostages still believed to be in the Gaza Strip are no longer alive.

Bombardment east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

(Bild: AFP)

Hamas demanded a comprehensive ceasefire until the very end, including a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. Israel, which has declared the complete destruction of Hamas as its goal, rejects this. Foreign Minister Israel Katz recently declared that his country was prepared to postpone the announced military operation in the city of Rafah if a deal to release hostages was reached. It was only on Monday that the Israeli military called on people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to evacuate. The UN warned Israel against launching an offensive there. A mass evacuation on this scale cannot be carried out safely, said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric on Monday in New York in view of the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the region. 

Relatives urge hostage deal
Relatives of the hostages and former hostages have urged the Israeli government in recent days to reach a negotiated solution. In a letter to Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, they demanded answers to the government's position on Monday. "We family members are watching in horror what is happening," they wrote, also with regard to the preparations for the Rafah offensive. "Netanyahu is deliberately destroying the deal and leaving the hostages to die."