Hamas confirmed it was studying a proposed three-phase truce in Gaza, while the most hardline members of the Israeli government threatened to bring down the coalition if they did not like a deal.
The political leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed Tuesday that he was studying the proposal, debated in Paris this weekend, to end the war and allow the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners.
Haniyeh said in a statement that the group is “open to discussing any serious and practical initiative or idea, provided that it leads to a comprehensive cessation of aggression.”
Hamas also said the plan must ensure the “complete withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Gaza Strip.”
The group’s leaders, he explained, received an invitation to Cairo to arrive at an “integrated vision” of the framework agreement.
Three phases
In a statement sent to Reuters, Hamas said the proposal had three stages. The plan was sent to Gaza to obtain the opinion of Hamas leaders.
“Hamas leaders will meet to discuss the document and express their final opinion on it,” the statement said.
Sources told the news agency that the first phase would consist of a pause in fighting and the release of elderly civilians, women and children held hostage.
Massive deliveries of food and medicine to Gaza, facing a dire humanitarian crisis, would resume.
The second phase would see the release of female Israeli soldiers and a further increase in aid deliveries and the restoration of public services in Gaza. The third phase would see the bodies of deceased Israeli soldiers released in exchange for freed Palestinian prisoners, two sources said.
The Hamas statement said the second phase will also involve the release of male military recruits.
“Military operations on both sides will stop during the three stages,” the statement said. The number of Palestinian prisoners to be released should be left to the negotiation process “at each stage, with the Israeli side preparing to release those serving long sentences,” he said.
The ultimate goal of this phased approach is the end of the war and the release of male soldiers held captive in Gaza in exchange for Israel’s release of additional Palestinian prisoners held in prison.
If Hamas accepts the framework proposal, it could still take days or weeks to sort out the logistical details of the truce and the release of hostages and prisoners, an official told Reuters.
Progress
Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the framework discussed in Paris was based on elements of an initial proposal made by Israel and a counter-proposal made by Hamas.
“We’ve tried to mix things up to find some sort of reasonable ground that brings everyone together,” he told the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington on Monday.
He added that “good progress” had been made on a possible deal during meetings between Egyptian, Israeli and US intelligence officials over the weekend.
The Qatari prime minister noted that Hamas had already demanded a permanent ceasefire as a precondition for opening negotiations. However, he suggested there was hope his position had changed.
“I believe we have moved from this place to a place that could potentially lead to a permanent ceasefire in the future,” he said.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza said it would not engage in any deal regarding Israeli hostages without guaranteeing a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the secretary said Tuesday general of the group, Ziad al-Nakhala, in a press release.
“The split in government”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel would continue its war in Gaza until “absolute victory” over Hamas.
He ruled out the release of “thousands” of Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to end the fighting and said the army would not withdraw from Gaza.
“I would like to be clear… We will not withdraw the IDF from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists. None of this will happen,” he said in a speech in the occupied West Bank settlement of Eli.
Netanyahu is under significant pressure from the families of other prisoners held by Hamas to reach a deal guaranteeing their release.
Hamas killed at least 1,139 people in Israel and took around 240 prisoners on October 7, according to Israeli figures.
However, Netanyahu is also being pushed to continue the war by his government’s hardline coalition partners.
Commenting on the truce negotiations announced earlier Tuesday, far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared to suggest that a deal with Hamas would trigger a government collapse.
“Reckless deal = government split,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
עסקה מופקרת = פירוק הממשלה
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) January 30, 2024
The national security minister is known for his inflammatory comments on the conflict. However, his party, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit), is a major player in Israel’s ruling coalition.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Tel Aviv, said unnamed Israeli officials confirmed the government had signed a deal that was presented to Hamas. This includes a pause in fighting and the release of Israeli captives in Gaza in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Jamjoom said that although members of the right-wing government were opposed to the deal, Yair Lapid, Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister, said he would support the government if it meant bringing the captives home.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also scheduled to land in Israel on Saturday for his sixth trip to the region since the start of the war to discuss post-war scenarios in Gaza, Jamjoom reported.
Escalation
The proposals were distributed to Hamas as fighting intensified in Gaza.
Heavy Israeli strikes and urban fighting in the besieged enclave killed 128 more people overnight, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
An Israeli “strike squad” also killed three men it described as “terrorists” during an undercover operation at a hospital in the occupied West Bank.
“The world must put pressure on the occupation to put an end to these massacres and war crimes, including the policy of torture to which our people are exposed in the West Bank areas, the executions and the arrests,” he said. Haniyeh said.
Amid the surge in fighting, Israel accused a dozen employees of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of taking part in the October 7 attack, leading major donor countries to , including the United States and Germany, to suspend their funding.
Haniyeh said the countries’ decision to suspend their contributions was a “blatant violation” of last week’s interim ruling by the International Court of Justice, which called for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Countries that reduce their aid support “Israeli occupation through famine and siege,” the Hamas leader said.
