Negotiations over a possible ceasefire in the Gaza war have entered a crucial phase, as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to Israel’s attack on Palestinian territory in return for the release of prisoners, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected such an outcome excluded.
On Sunday, both sides blamed each other for the standoff. In their second day of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any ceasefire agreement must include an end to the war, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli officials did not travel to Cairo to take part in indirect diplomacy, but on Sunday Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s goal since the war began nearly seven months ago: to disarm and crush Hamas.
He said Israel was ready to stop fighting in the Gaza Strip to ensure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, believed to be more than 100.
“Although Israel has shown its readiness, Hamas persists in its extreme positions, especially the demand to withdraw all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war and leave Hamas in power,” Netanyahu said.
“Israel cannot accept this,” he said.
In a statement issued shortly after Netanyahu took office, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh blamed Netanyahu for “continuing the aggression and expanding the circle of conflict, as well as sabotaging the efforts made by the mediators and various parties.”
A Hamas delegation to the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Cairo has departed and will return for further talks on Tuesday, Egyptian state-affiliated media said.
“The Hamas delegation left Cairo this evening [Sunday] Al-Qahera News, a website linked to Egyptian intelligence services, said, citing an unidentified “informed source”, that the government would travel to Doha to hold consultations and return on Tuesday to begin negotiations on a ceasefire in the war to conclude with Israel.
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said Israel had insisted that any agreement would involve only a pause in fighting and not a permanent end to hostilities.
“The Israelis insist that the most Hamas will get is this initial 40-day ceasefire in return for 33 Israeli prisoners and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners,” he said.
“Hamas insists that any agreement with Israel should lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,” Smith added.
Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns – who was in Cairo – is also traveling to Doha to hold an emergency meeting with Qatar’s prime minister, an official briefed on the talks said late Sunday.
“Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister to put maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiations,” a source told Reuters.
Washington has urged Hamas to accept the latest Israeli proposal.
Rafah attack
The talks come amid signs that Israel is preparing an attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
Israel believes thousands of Hamas fighters are holed up in the city, along with possibly dozens of prisoners.
Such an attack would endanger hundreds of thousands of lives and deal a major blow to relief efforts across the enclave, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday.
Residents and health officials in Gaza said Israeli planes and tanks continued to bomb areas in the Palestinian enclave overnight, killing and wounding several people.
Hamas’ armed wing claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack near the Karem Abu Salem border crossing between Israel and Gaza, the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Israeli military said the border crossing – known to Israelis as Kerem Shalom – was closed after the rocket attack.
According to Palestinian authorities, at least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and 78,018 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October.
Israel launched the attack after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.