War in the Middle East
Israel approaches Hamas for hostage deal
Israel is ready to send a delegation to the indirect negotiations in Cairo in the coming days. photo
© Gehad Hamdy/dpa
Israel is giving Hamas a “last chance” for a ceasefire before the announced offensive in Rafah. It could take up to a year, they say. The news at a glance.
According to media reports, Israel has made extensive concessions to the Islamist coalition in the renewed negotiations in the Gaza war Hamas made and, among other things, offered the possibility of a ceasefire of up to a year. As the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials, the proposal for an agreement – which Israel was involved in drafting but has yet to agree to – calls for two stages.
The first stage would involve the release of at least 20 hostages within a three-week ceasefire in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. The duration of the ceasefire could be extended by one day for each additional hostage, it said. A second stage would include a 10-week ceasefire in which Hamas and Israel could agree to a larger release of hostages and a longer pause in fighting that could last up to a year.
Israel awaits response from Hamas
The Israeli government expects a response from Hamas to the latest offer today, the Times of Israel newspaper quoted an Israeli official as saying. Israel is ready to send a delegation to Cairo for indirect negotiations in the coming days, the Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli and Egyptian officials as saying. The latest proposal is seen as a “last chance” in Jerusalem.
It would be conceivable that, in the event of an agreement, Israel would initially refrain from the announced ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought protection. “Time is of the essence, but I cannot set a deadline here,” said John Kirby, US National Security Council communications director.
Blinking again in Israel
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for talks. He will first meet with President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, the Times of Israel reported, citing the president’s office. A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is then planned in Jerusalem. The top US diplomat will also meet with Defense Minister Joav Galant and Israel’s national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi. Blinken had spoken of a “very, very generous” proposal from Israel for a deal with Hamas.
“Israel has shown more than just flexibility to reach an agreement,” the Times of Israel quoted an Israeli official as saying. The number of hostages to be released by Hamas has been reduced as a first step. In addition, the Israeli side is open to the possibility that the Palestinians who fled the fighting in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip return to the north without Israeli security checks, it said. One of the options currently being examined is for Egypt to take over the security controls.
UN Secretary General: Without a deal there is a risk of escalation
Hamas should accept the proposal, Kirby said. According to media reports, Egypt and Qatar are also urging the Islamist organization to now accept the conditions for a ceasefire. However, Hamas has so far insisted on an end to the war, which Israel rejects. Both sides are not negotiating directly, but through mediators Egypt, Qatar and the USA. “Hopes wax and wane, and (…) we’ll just keep hanging in there and see if we can do it,” Kirby said of the ongoing negotiations.
“In the interest of the people of Gaza, in the interest of the hostages and their families in Israel, and in the interest of the region and the world, I strongly encourage the government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach an agreement now,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York. Without an agreement, the war “with all its consequences could get exponentially worse, especially in the Gaza Strip and in the entire region.” An Israeli attack on Rafah would be “an intolerable escalation,” the UN chief said.
The nerves of the people in Rafah are on edge due to fear of Israel’s military offensive, said the head of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini. As of yesterday, the Israeli military had not asked people there to leave the area, but that was expected at any moment, he said. A lot now depends on the ongoing negotiations in Karo about a ceasefire.
Netanyahu: Offensive continues with or without hostage deal
However, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear on the same day that the announced offensive on Rafah would take place in any case. “We will go into Rafah and dismantle the Hamas battalions there – with a deal or without a deal,” Netanyahu said at a meeting with relatives of Israeli hostages and fallen soldiers, according to his office.
“The idea that we stop the war before all its objectives are achieved is out of the question.” His right-wing extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to end the government if the now proposed hostage deal was implemented and the announced military operation in Rafah was stopped. Netanyahu’s political survival depends on his far-right coalition partners.