Hamas makes new proposal; demands immediate ceasefire, no hostage release in 1st phase
Mossad claims Sinwar ‘does not want a humanitarian deal' but trying to escalate conflict
Hamas negotiators presented another proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal to mediators on Saturday night, demanding that Israel observe a six-week ceasefire before it receives any of the 133 hostages still held by the terror group.
The proposal was reportedly submitted after the terror group rejected the U.S.-mediated deal late on Saturday night.
In the proposal, Hamas demanded the IDF withdraw from all urban areas in Gaza for six weeks, cease all fighting and allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in the north. Only after the end of the six weeks would any hostages be released, the terror group says, saying that it would use the weeks of paused hostilities to locate the hostages and ascertain what condition they are in.
Hamas rejected the U.S. proposal, which would see 900 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages.
The terror group has not yet confirmed how many of the remaining hostages are still alive. Hamas previously claimed that it did not have 40 living hostages which would qualify for the exchange. The exchange excluded active-duty soldiers who had been kidnapped while on leave.
On Sunday, following the massive Iranian missile and drone barrage against Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement from the Mossad intelligence agency accusing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar of not being interested in a genuine deal, after Hamas rejected a proposal by all other parties in the negotiations.
“The rejection of the proposal by the three mediators, which included significant flexibility on Israel’s part, proves that Sinwar does not want a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages,” the PMO statement read, claiming that, instead, Sinwar “is continuing to exploit the tension with Iran, and is striving to unite the sectors and achieve a general escalation in the region.”
Last week, an investigative TV program in Israel called “Uvdah” (Fact), published testimonies from the Israeli negotiating team, some of whom claimed that Netanyahu was deliberately delaying the negotiations while blaming Hamas.
The PMO said that Israel would never yield to Hamas’ demand for an unconditional, permanent ceasefire or a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip without achieving its goals.
In a statement, the PMO said that Hamas has “rejected any deal or compromise proposal.”
“The instructions from the government were given in consultation with the negotiating team to achieve the release of our hostages and to safeguard Israel's security, without any external considerations,” the statement read.
We recommend to read:
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
