EGYPT ‘HUMANITARIAN DEAL’ SEEKS AN END TO GAZA WAR

▶ Draft seen by The National includes detainee-for-hostage swap and withdrawal of Israeli forces

New Egyptian proposals to end the Israel-Gaza war include a 10-day “humanitarian deal” under which there would be a complete halt to fighting and a detainee-for-hostage swap, according to a draft seen by The National yesterday.

This first stage of the peace plan would be followed by a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the besieged enclave and negotiations between the Israeli government and Hamas.

The document does not include details on Hamas giving up control of Gaza or the fate of the enclave after hostilities end, which some security source leaks have addressed.

Egyptian officials told The National that Israel and Hamas are studying the proposals – despite publicly showing little appetite for negotiations. The two-page plan is the latest draft tabled by Egyptian mediators after an earlier version failed to gain traction with either of the warring parties in the 12week conflict.

These proposals correspond broadly with those outlined in numerous recent reports that were attributed to Egyptian security sources.

However, the draft document seen by The National contains details not included in those reports and appears to have been tweaked to accommodate the initial reservations aired by Hamas, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The first-phase humanitarian deal would be declared after a two-day truce in which the two sides would indirectly negotiate the lists of hostages and detainees to be released.

According to the draft, Egyptian, American and Qatari mediators would assist with these negotiations, with talks held in Egypt. During the 10-day phase, the two sides would observe a complete cessation of hostilities – including aerial activity by Israel. This would also cover reconnaissance flights.

Under a deal, Hamas would release Israeli hostages, including women, the elderly, children and those in poor health, in exchange for Palestinians

who are detained in Israeli jails. According to the document, this would be followed by moving Israeli armed forces out of urban areas in Gaza and a one-month window in which Israel and Hamas indirectly negotiate the release of all military personnel held by the militant group, and a determined number of Palestinian detainees.

During the month, the two sides will negotiate the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire territory, according to the draft.

Egyptian officials said the draft leaves out some of the details leaked by security sources, such as Hamas giving up control of Gaza, the specific number of hostages and prisoners to be released, and the fate of Gaza after the cessation of hostilities, or what have become known as “day-after” scenarios.

They said the plan was put together with input from Qatar and the US.

The three countries mediated a week-long truce that ended on December 1, under which substantial quantities of humanitarian aid entered Gaza and the two sides released scores of hostages and detainees.

The latest draft said that the three countries will jointly monitor and supervise the implementation of the Egyptian proposals.

The officials, however, cautioned that the text is a work in progress and could be amended further to accommodate other reservations of the stakeholders.

“The situation could develop into a regionwide conflict in one second and one in which we may also see a ceasefire in Gaza declared,” one of the officials said.

The Gaza war began on October 7 when Hamas launched raids into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages back to the territory. That day, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “mighty vengeance” against Hamas.

Israeli forces responded with a bombardment of Gaza that has to date killed more than 21,100 Palestinians, razed significant areas of neighbourhoods and displaced the vast majority of the territory’s 2.3 million residents.

Hamas and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are known to still be holding about 130 Israeli hostages.

The second stage of the plan stipulates the release by Hamas of Israeli women soldiers and the remains of hostages the group has in its possession.

It allows substantial humanitarian aid into the besieged territory during a sevenday pause.

In return, Israel will free another batch of Palestinians – the exact number to be agreed by both sides – held in its prisons, according to the text. Israeli officials estimate that 20 of the hostages held by Hamas have died or been killed in captivity.

Hamas is known to be holding at least five Israeli women soldiers.

The third phase of the plan, according to the latest draft, provides for one month of negotiations on the release of all Israeli military personnel held by Hamas in return for a number of Palestinian detainees whose number is to be agreed by both sides.

During this phase, Israel is expected to pull out its forces from Gaza and continue to suspend aerial activity over the territory.

Egyptian officials rejected claims that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad wanted nothing to do with the initial proposals

Hamas will also refrain from all attacks on Israel.

Mr Netanyahu has not directly commented on the Egyptian proposals but has been determined that the war is far from over and will end only when Hamas is “destroyed”.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have both publicly rejected the initial proposals.

The Egyptian officials, however, said Israel and Hamas were still studying the proposals.

The latest draft makes no mention of proposals previously discussed by parties for holding legislative and presidential elections in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and a revamped Palestinian Authority to run Palestinian territories as a prelude to the creation of a demilitarised state.

It also makes no mention of proposals for a UN-led multinational force to be sent into Gaza for a limited period immediately after hostilities end.

The latest draft of the proposals does not cover topics that the officials said were under discussion by mediators who are in contact with Hamas and Israel. Israel, for example, agrees in principle to a ceasefire but on condition that senior Hamas leaders in Gaza leave the territory to live in exile, the Egyptian officials said.

They include Yahya Sinwar, Israel’s most wanted man, and others responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Hamas leaders categorically refuse to leave the territory, reject their exclusion from any future administration in Gaza and oppose a demilitarised Palestinian state, the officials said.

Mr Sinwar also wants a transitional period of up to three years during which the reconstruction of Gaza is completed before legislative and presidential elections are held, they said.

While the Egyptian proposals are viewed as a positive sign, the US is sceptical they will result in a breakthrough, one of the officials said.

Egypt, a close US ally that shares borders with Gaza and Israel, became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel 44 years ago.

Qatar, also a US ally, is home to Hamas’s political leaders and maintains informal contacts with Israel.