Hamas to halt Gaza ceasefire negotiations if Israel attacks Rafah
GAZA (Xinhua/ap) – The Palestinian Islamic Movement (Hamas) said that the ceasefire negotiations with Israel would be suspended if Israel attacks the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Osama Hamdan, a senior official of Hamas, said in an interview with Lebanon-based al-manar TV that Hamas would halt all indirect negotiations with Israel if it launches military operations against Rafah.
Accusing Israel of seeking “to blackmail all the parties by its threats of attacking Rafah,” the Hamas official stressed that “the resistance is still having its power to defend our people.” Hamdan noted that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the Alqassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, maintained contact with the political faction of Hamas, and were informed about the ongoing situation on the ground.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there “with or without” a deal with Hamas.
Time is now
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas on Wednesday to accept the latest proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, saying the “time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and pause the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.
But a key sticking point appeared to remain — whether the deal would completely end Israel’s offensive as Hamas has demanded.
Blinken met with Israeli leaders throughout the day on the last stop of his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, trying to push through what has been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas. The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar hope to avert an Israeli offensive into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Throughout months of talks, Hamas has said the freeing of all the hostages it holds must bring a permanent halt to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The proposed deal now at the center of talks raises that possibility, according to leaked details that were confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official. But Hamas is seeking to strengthen the language to ensure a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations. The group said it is likely to give its response to the proposal on Thursday.
In public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly rejected stopping the war before Hamas is destroyed. In a sign of the challenges in the negotiations, Netanyahu in his talks with Blinken on Wednesday repeated his vow to launch the offensive on Rafah, which he says is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.
Blinken said Israel has made “very important” compromises in cease-fire efforts and it is now up to Hamas to get the deal done.
“There’s no time for further haggling. The deal is there,” Blinken said, shortly before he was to leave Israel.
Earlier in the day, he said in talks with Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. “No delays, no excuses. The time is now,” he said.
Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis, pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine and driven around 80% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes.
In the meantime, talks would start on restoring “a permanent calm,” the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations.