According to media reports, the fronts between Israel and the Islamist Hamas have hardened further in the indirect negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Israel will under no circumstances agree to an agreement that includes an Israeli commitment to ending the war, the newspaper “Times of Israel” quoted an official briefed on the ongoing talks in Cairo as saying late on Saturday evening. Arab media reports suggesting that Israel will give the mediators guarantees for an end to the war are false. Hamas continues to demand that Israel agree to ending the war as a condition of an agreement, “thwarting the possibility of reaching an agreement”.
Unlike Hamas, Israel is not currently sending a team to the indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of further hostages in the Egyptian capital. Israel will only send a delegation to Cairo once Hamas has responded to a proposal for an agreement, the Israeli Kan broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing a government representative. An Israeli government spokesman declined to comment on the report when asked. If Hamas agrees to the proposed draft, Israel will send a delegation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying. Representatives of Hamas’ political leadership arrived in Cairo from Qatar on Saturday to continue the talks.
Mediations and negotiations
The subject of the indirect negotiations, in which Egypt, Qatar and the USA are mediating, is a proposal that envisages the release of hostages held by Hamas and the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip by Israel in several phases. Hamas continued to demand a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. Israel, which has declared the complete destruction of Hamas as its goal, has so far firmly rejected this.
The USA asked Qatar to expel the political leadership of Hamas from the country if the Islamist organization in Cairo did not agree to an agreement, the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed official as saying on Saturday evening. The Gulf emirate was prepared to comply with the request if asked. However, the actual decision-makers of Hamas are in the contested Gaza Strip and the mediators have no direct contact with them, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said. “So it is a challenge to understand what they are thinking.” The Gaza war was triggered by the massacre in which more than 1,200 people were killed, which terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7 last year.
