7/5/2024–|Last updated: 5/7/202405:03 PM (Mecca time)
American media said that Washington adopted the draft ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was accepted by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and that it was Israel that withdrew from approving the draft.
The Associated Press reported from sources that the draft agreement included a slight change in wording from the version submitted by Washington with Israel’s approval.
The same sources added to the agency that the changes were made in consultation with CIA Director William Burns, who adopted the draft before sending it to Hamas.
This comes at a time when Burns heads to Cairo to resume discussions regarding exchange negotiations.
Minor changes
For its part, the New York Times quoted officials it described as insiders that the proposal approved by Hamas included minor changes in the wording, and that the movement’s response was serious, and that it is now up to Israel to decide whether it will enter into an agreement or not.
The officials said that Qatari and Egyptian mediators spoke with William Burns about the changes that Hamas was willing to accept.
Axios quoted a member of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee as saying that the Rafah invasion would move the detainee talks in the wrong direction, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had abandoned the prisoners and apparently preferred to prolong the war.
Netanyahu’s office announced that Hamas’s latest proposal does not meet Israel’s demands, but that it will send a delegation to meet with the negotiators to try to reach what it described as an acceptable deal.
He added that the War Council unanimously decided to continue the Rafah operation, and explained that the aim of this was to put military pressure on the Hamas movement with the aim of progressing in efforts to release prisoners and achieve the goals of the war.
Meanwhile, an Israeli official said that the proposal to which Hamas announced its approval is a “watered-down” version of an Egyptian proposal that includes elements that Israel cannot accept.
Alive or dead?
In the details of the deal, the American NBC network quoted an Israeli official as saying that one of the differences between Israel and Hamas is whether all 33 detainees who will be released are alive, explaining that Israel’s position is that Hamas must release 33 hostages alive.
The Israeli official indicated that there is another disagreement regarding the number of detainees who will be released each week after the ceasefire.
Yesterday, Monday, the Hamas movement said that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, made a phone call with the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and with the Director of Egyptian Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and informed them of the movement’s approval of the proposed ceasefire agreement.
Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, said – during an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune – that the proposal presented by the mediators to the movement includes three stages, and includes a complete withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and an exchange of prisoners.