Hamas Offers 10-Year Truce With Israel

Seeks End to Blockade of Gaza Strip

With Israeli officials making much of their determination to see a more permanent settlement in the Gaza Strip after this latest round of warfare, Hamas is ponying up a dramatic proposal, seeking a 10-year truce agreement.

The agreement is a major proposal, seeking an end to the crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip as well as the release of large numbers of Palestinian detainees held without charges by Israeli forces.

The big goal is to see the international airport in Gaza and the seaport eventually reopened, under the management of the United Nations to ensure that they aren’t being used for arms smuggling. In return Israel would commit to not sending warplanes into Gaza airspace for 10 years, nor barring Gazans from leaving the strip to go to the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel has not responded to the proposal, reportedly submitted through Egypt, though the many hawkish officials in the right-far-right coalition make it difficult to reach any agreement that doesn’t include an open-ended military occupation or more Israeli airstrikes.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.