Both Hamas officials and Israeli officials said on Monday that no progress was made toward a hostage deal in Egyptian and Qatari-mediated ceasefire negotiations that are taking place in Cairo.
Ali Barakam, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, said the Palestinian group had rejected the latest proposal from Israel. “We reject the latest Israeli proposals that the Egyptian side informed us of. The politburo met today and decided this,” he told Reuters.
Another unnamed Hamas official said Israel had not changed its position. “There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel), and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” the official said.
An Israeli official told Ynet that they “still don’t see a deal on the horizon” and that the two sides are still far apart.
A Hamas official told CNN that Israel’s latest proposal did not address Hamas’s key demands, which include a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal. “The [Israeli] proposal does not respond to the questions that [Hamas] has asked in its original proposal, and that is that any agreement should clearly include a ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of [Israeli] troops – even if it happens through stages – and the return of the displaced in complete freedom to their homes,” the official said.
The CNN report said CIA Director William Burns had presented a deal to bridge the gaps between the two sides. The proposal involves the release of 40 Israeli hostages in exchange for about 900 Palestinian prisoners. The US would also like Israel to allow Palestinians who fled from northern Gaza to be able to return to the north.
Pressure is mounting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a hostage deal, and Israeli officials have accused him of intentionally sabotaging the talks. Haaretz recently reported that Israeli intelligence believes only 60-70 hostages in Gaza are still alive.
Netanyahu has made clear that any ceasefire he agrees to would only be temporary as he is vowing to launch an invasion of Rafah and said Monday that he set a date to attack the city.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who leads the main opposition party in the Knesset, called for a hostage deal during a visit to Washington on Monday. “A hostage deal is doable. It is a difficult deal, this is a deal we may not like, but it’s doable and therefore needs to be made,” he said after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
There is no need for ceasefire negotiations – both the UNSC and the ICJ already laid down the law.
The IDF must 1) immediately and effectively cease killing people and independent of #1 also 2) must immediately allow food and supplies into Gaza (more than 500 truckloads a day) finally 3) both parties need to release their civilian prisoners. The Likud approx. 10,000 Arabs and the Gaza Gov’t approx 5 Israelis
That’s international law
What makes you think that neither Bibi nor Hamas want this war to end or care for their prisoners?
Once this “war” is over, Hamas would either be severely weakened by the Gazan population or will be forced to kill a lot of Palestinian “traitors” and “spies” to keep its hold.
Bibi fate after the war is at best. to be remembered as the worst prime minister in Israel’s history or at worst, to spend his retirement behind bars.
Both Bibi and Sinwar have this in common: The misery of their people keeps them in power.
On an unrelated news, some shadowy group is fermenting another civil war in Lebanon.
The murder of the Christian leader Pascal Sleiman by some Syrian stooges was very obviously meant to be seen as a Hezbollah hit.
Who benefits? almost everyone except for Lebanon..
Israeli: Any deal where Palestinians remain alive is definitely a “a deal we may not like.”
And who said that?
Israeli actions are saying that. Israelis have no mercy for any Palestinians, not even for dying starving children and amputated children, no matter how young, Infants, toddlers, they don’t care, no mercy for them, but they want mercy for themselves and for Hamas to surrender.
Sinwar sent suicide gangs who raped,castrated,mutilated,burned,tortured and kidnapped.Where is your concern for their victims?
Your propaganda has been debunked. Where is your credible evidence, victims and witnesses and forensic reliable evidence? Remember the WMD and the Iraq war?
And where is your evidence?
Egypt claimed there was progress. That top level spy chiefs from both Israel and the US showed up illustrates some seriousness to change the dynamic, as does Israel’s pullback from s Gaza. Biden is beginning to wise up, but he still lets the tail wag the dog, and we will be held responsible for Israel’s ongoing atrocities using US weapons.