In the struggle for a ceasefire in the Middle East, an official response from Hamas to Israel’s concessions is still pending. However, the leader of the Islamist group spoke out from exile – and did not sound optimistic.
According to a media report, the leader of the radical Islamist Hamas in the embattled Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, is skeptical about the latest offer to negotiate a hostage deal.
It is not an offer from the Egyptian mediators, but an Israeli one “in American guise” that contains a number of pitfalls, a source close to the Hamas leader told the Israeli television channel Channel 12 in the evening. The current draft contains no guarantee that the war will end.
Official response from Hamas expected soon
As part of Egyptian mediation efforts in Cairo, Hamas was presented with a proposal for a ceasefire in return for the release of hostages. Egyptian brokers had previously received the offer in Israel. A response from Hamas is still pending. The Islamist organization has so far insisted on an end to the war, which Israel rejects. The Israeli government has announced a rapid start to the controversial offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt if an agreement is not reached.
Lebanon-based Hamas representative Osama Hamdan told the Al-Manar television station, which is controlled by the pro-Iranian Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon: “Our position on the current negotiating document is negative,” as the Times of Israel reported that night. However, according to the Hamas press office, this does not mean a break in negotiations. According to the newspaper, the organization planned to submit a response to the latest proposal in the next few hours.
How much weight does al-Sinwar’s word carry?
Statements by Hamas leaders in exile should not be viewed as official positions of the Islamist organization, al-Sinwar’s confidante told the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. The Gaza leader now only relies on two close followers who control the Gaza Strip on his decision-making had left the order before Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th last year.
According to the Times of Israel, there have been recent statements by exiled Hamas leaders in favor of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Map of the Gaza Strip, gray areas: built-up areas in the Gaza Strip, hatched: areas controlled by the Israeli army
Blinken: “Hamas is blocking the path to the ceasefire”
During his visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had previously called on Hamas to agree to Israel’s proposal for a ceasefire. “It is Hamas that is blocking the path to the ceasefire,” he said. There is a “very strong proposal on the table” that the terrorist organization must “agree to and bring the matter to an end.”
According to media reports, the Israeli proposal envisages a multi-stage process in which the fighting in the Gaza Strip will initially be stopped for 40 days and hostages will be released in return. First, women, the sick, the elderly and the wounded should be released. As with the first ceasefire, Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli prisons – also in a phased process.
According to a spokesman, the Israeli government wanted to wait until the evening for a response from Hamas. “A decision” will then be made as to whether Israel will send a delegation to Cairo for further talks.