The White House said that it is still waiting to receive an official response from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to the latest ceasefire proposals in the Gaza Strip, and while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken heads to the region on Monday to advance the deal, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant is conducting consultations. With the head of the Mossad and military and security leaders regarding the deal.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday evening that US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, will discuss the deal during a meeting on Saturday.
For its part, the US State Department announced that Secretary Anthony Blinken will begin a tour next Monday that will include Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.
The ministry said that Blinken will discuss during his tour the necessity of reaching a ceasefire agreement that guarantees the release of all hostages, explaining that he will stress during his tour the importance of Hamas accepting the proposal on the table, and that he will continue to stress during his tour the need to prevent further escalation in the conflict.
The US State Department indicated that Blinken would confirm that a ceasefire would create conditions for greater integration between Israel and its Arab neighbors and enhance Israel’s security in the long term.
Sensitive stage
The American website Axios quoted a source as saying that American officials stated that the prisoner deal negotiations had reached a very sensitive stage.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said that the Hamas movement reported that it was still studying the American proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Al-Ansari added, “The mediators have not yet received a response from Hamas regarding the recent proposal regarding a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli occupation,” explaining that the movement “reported that it is still studying the proposal.” He added, “Qatar’s joint mediation efforts with Egypt and the United States are continuing.”
For his part, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said that the movement and the resistance factions will deal seriously and positively with any agreement on the basis of a comprehensive cessation of aggression, complete withdrawal, and prisoner exchange.
Haniyeh added that the movement is conducting the negotiations armed with this position, which represents the will of the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance.
In turn, Muhammad al-Hindi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said that the resistance wants the proposed exchange agreement to stipulate a final ceasefire in Gaza, and not leave the matter to the interpretation of US President Joe Biden or the mediators.
Al-Hindi confirmed, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, that what he called attempts to circumvent the issue through a Security Council resolution would be of no use, referring to the draft resolution that the United States submitted to the Security Council to vote on a 3-stage ceasefire plan.
The Israeli position
On the other hand, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that Defense Minister Yoav Galant held consultations with the head of the Mossad and military and security leaders regarding Hamas’s planned response to the prisoner exchange deal.
She added that the consultations discussed possible responses amid estimates that Hamas is demanding pledges and guarantees to stop the war on Gaza.
For his part, the head of the “Jewish Greatness” party and Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that his party wants the prisoners to return, but will not agree to a deal that threatens Israel’s future.
Ben Gvir added in his account on the X platform that his party’s position is to prevent the entry of fuel into Gaza and reduce humanitarian aid.
In a related context, a poll by the Israeli Channel 12 revealed that 56% of Israelis support the government’s approval of a prisoner exchange deal, and the same percentage of Israelis believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s basic considerations regarding the deal are political. While 62% of Israelis said that they would not vote for a party that supports Netanyahu’s continued rule.
With the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the participation of the United States, Israel and Hamas have been conducting indirect and faltering negotiations for months, while the Israeli war on Gaza has continued since October 7, 2023.
The Israeli war on Gaza left about 120,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and nearly 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens.
Israel continues this war, ignoring a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop the fighting immediately, and orders from the Court of Justice to stop its attack on Rafah, and take immediate measures to prevent acts of “genocide” and “improve the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.