HAMAS TO STUDY NEW CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL
Move to revive peace talks comes amid Israeli preparations for a military push into Rafah, where thousands of civilians have sought refuge
Hamas yesterday said it was studying the latest Israeli counterproposal on a potential ceasefire in Gaza, a day after a delegation from mediator Egypt reportedly arrived in Israel in an attempt to jump-start stalled negotiations.
Signs of fresh truce talks came alongside Israeli preparations for a military push into Gaza’s southern city of Rafah and as spillover from the war led to continued attacks across the region.
“Today, the Hamas movement received the official Zionist occupation response to the movement’s position, which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13,”
Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political arm in Gaza, said. “The movement will study this proposal, and upon completion of its study, it will submit its response.”
Hamas had previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire, something rejected by Israel.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to seal a new truce deal in Gaza ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said Israel’s war cabinet had discussed a new plan for a truce and hostage release ahead of the Egyptian delegation’s visit.
There had been “noticeable progress in bringing the views of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations closer”, said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian state intelligence services.
The war in Gaza was also on the agenda for an international summit due to begin in Saudi Arabia today.
The World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh will include a Gaza-focused session set to feature newly appointed Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip.
“Discussions with European, American and regional counterparts on Gaza and the regional situation are planned in Riyadh,” a diplomatic source said.
Witnesses in besieged Gaza reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight around Rafah, the last urban centre Israeli ground forces have yet to enter. Plans for an Israeli incursion into the city, which military leaders say is necessary to uproot Hamas battalions, have sparked opposition among the international community due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians seeking refuge there.
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said such an operation “will undoubtedly threaten the negotiations” and show “that Israel is interested in continuing the war”.
On Friday, missiles fired from an Israeli jet hit Gaza City, killing at least three people in the Rimal neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, a baby delivered from her dying mother’s womb in Rafah had died, the girl’s uncle said. When she was born, doctors hailed her as a “miracle”.
But Rami al-Sheikh said his niece Ruh had “joined her family in the gardens of eternity”, after her mother was fatally wounded in an Israeli strike.
Opposition to an Israeli military operation in Rafah extended to university campuses across the US, where hundreds of students have been arrested at proPalestinian protests.
“Stop the invasion! Hands off Rafah!” said a sign at a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University in the US capital.
The World Food Programme has warned that famine is “a real and dangerous threat” in Gaza.
The Gaza war has led to increased violence between Israel and Iran’s proxies and allies, in particular the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.
On Friday, the Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiyya said an Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon had killed two of its senior commanders.