Negotiations on a possible ceasefire in the Gaza war entered a crucial stage as Hamas reiterated its demand to end the Israeli attack on the Palestinian territory in exchange for the release of captives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically ruled out such an outcome.
On Sunday, both sides blamed each other for the impasse. In their second day of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their position that any ceasefire agreement must include an end to the war, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli officials did not travel to Cairo to participate in indirect diplomacy, but Netanyahu on Sunday reiterated Israel’s goal since the war began nearly seven months ago: to disarm and dismantle Hamas.
He said Israel was prepared to suspend fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, estimated to number more than a hundred.
“But even if Israel has demonstrated its will, Hamas remains stuck to its extreme positions, first and foremost the demand to withdraw all our forces from the Gaza Strip, to end the war and to leave Hamas in power. power,” Netanyahu said.
“Israel cannot accept this,” he said.
In a statement released shortly after Netanyahu’s, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh accused Netanyahu of “continuing aggression and widening the circle of conflict, as well as sabotaging the efforts of mediators and various parties.” “.
A Hamas delegation participating in truce negotiations with Gaza in Cairo has left and will return on Tuesday for further negotiations, state-linked Egyptian media said.
“The Hamas delegation left Cairo this evening (Sunday) for Doha to hold consultations, and will return on Tuesday to conclude negotiations” towards a truce in the war with Israel, said Al-Qahera News, a site linked to Egyptian intelligence. services, citing an unidentified “informed source.”
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Bernard Smith said Israel insisted any deal would include only a pause in fighting rather than a permanent end to hostilities.
“The Israelis insist that Hamas will get at most this initial 40-day truce in exchange for 33 Israeli prisoners and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners,” he said.
“Hamas insists that any agreement with Israel should lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,” Smith added.
Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns – who was in Cairo – is also traveling to Doha to hold an emergency meeting with Qatar’s prime minister, an official briefed on the negotiations said Sunday evening.
“Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister aimed at exerting maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiations,” a source told Reuters.
Washington has pressed Hamas to accept the latest Israeli proposal.
Rafah assault
The talks come amid signs that Israel is preparing for an attack on Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
Israel believes thousands of Hamas fighters are holed up in the city, with potentially dozens of captives.
Such an incursion would endanger hundreds of thousands of lives and deal a major blow to humanitarian operations across the enclave, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday.
Residents and health officials in Gaza said Israeli planes and tanks continued to bombard areas of the Palestinian enclave overnight, killing and injuring several people.
Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for an attack Sunday near the Karem Abu Salem crossing between Israel and Gaza, the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Israeli military said the crossing – known to Israelis as Kerem Shalom – was closed following the rocket attack.
At least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and 78,018 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October, according to Palestinian authorities.
Israel launched the assault after Hamas carried out an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on Israeli statistics.