Hamas insists on its latest Gaza ceasefire proposal: Exclusive

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
27 Jul 2024 13:19
2 Shares

A senior Palestinian source tells Al Mayadeen that the Palestinian Resistance group remains firm in its stance demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Listen

Destroyed buildings stand in the Gaza Strip, on Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP)

Hamas refuses to accept any new proposals amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements about his intention to present a new one regarding a prisoner exchange deal, a senior Palestinian source told Al Mayadeen on Saturday.

According to the source, Hamas insists on the latest proposal it submitted to the mediators regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli occupation.

The source indicated that the Palestinian Resistance group remains firm in its stance demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Netzarim and the Philadelphi axes.

Hamas has also informed the mediators that it will not accept any new proposal that does not include a clear provision for a ceasefire, the Palestinian source added.

Moreover, the group does not oppose a temporary government administration for Gaza with national consensus in the event of a failure to agree on a national unity government, the source mentioned.

This comes after Reuters cited sources as saying that "Israel" seeks to introduce amendments that would complicate reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal.

These amendments relate to inspecting displaced Palestinian citizens as they return to northern areas in the Gaza Strip and controlling the borders with Egypt, among other issues.

US and Israeli officials told Axios that CIA Director William Burns is scheduled to meet with officials from "Israel", Qatar, and Egypt in Italy's Rome to finalize an agreement.

The news website said that Burns on Sunday will sit down with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

The report mentioned that the meeting will focus on devising a strategy to advance the negotiations for a ceasefire and exchange deal, noting, however, that there will be no discussions on the remaining unresolved issues.

Biden put forward a ceasefire proposal in May that included a three-phase execution plan. The US National Security Advisor stated then that Biden's proposal was in fact an Israeli one.

However, after Hamas said it "views positively" the terms of the agreement, Netanyahu announced opposition to "Israel's" own deal, saying that the war on Gaza would not end until "all objectives are achieved" and rejecting to make any kind of commitment that the aggression would stop, neither orally nor written.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants a deal that is impossible to get. At the moment, he isn't willing to move and therefore we might be headed for a crisis in the negotiations rather than a deal," an Israeli official pointed out.

According to Axios, Israeli negotiators were pessimistic about the outcome of the Rome conference and did not believe that pressure from US President Joe Biden on Netanyahu had persuaded him to back down from some of his new, strong demands in the revised Israeli proposal.