Israelis and Palestinians waited anxiously on Thursday as Hamas weighed a new cease-fire proposal that could end nearly two years of fighting in Gaza and start the release of hostages. The 60-day truce, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, is being seen as turning point in the conflict, with both sides weighing if the conditions lead to a sustainable end to fighting, the New York Times reported.
The cease-fire plan is dependent on whether Hamas believes it includes sufficient guarantees of final peace—a prerequisite the organization has consistently demanded. Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demands that any violence freeze be temporary and linked to the disarmament and dissolution of Hamas's military and administrative infrastructure.
Hamas is eager to put an end to the war," political analyst Hussam Dajani in Gaza said. "Hamas will answer sometime this Friday," officials involved in the talks said. Key points in the latest proposal
As per the terms revealed by officials briefed on the negotiations, the draft agreement contains several sensitive elements that diverge from previous American proposals. Particularly, it prolongs the truce for two months and defers the release of hostages and remains.
Hostage exchanges
The plan would see the release of 10 live Israeli hostages and the return of 18 Gaza bodies. Israel, meanwhile, would release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. The trades would be conducted in five stages throughout the 60-day ceasefire period, unlike a previous US plan last May that involved releasing all the hostages within one week.
Israeli withdrawal from troops
The strategy involves a pullout of Israeli forces from Gaza. It was not clear if the withdrawal would be complete or incomplete. During an earlier cease-fire in January, Israeli forces had pulled out from some areas but remained stationed in other parts of the territory.
Critically, the agreement obliges the US, Qatar, and Egypt to see to it that serious negotiations towards halting the war begin during the duration of the cease-fire. This is a notable provision for Hamas, as it has always argued that a short-term truce is not agreeable unless it leads toward a final resolution.
But Netanyahu appeared to close the door on a near-term end to the war. "There will not be Hamas," he said on Wednesday. "We will free our hostages and we will defeat Hamas."
No TV handovers
In response to past criticism, the new deal bars Hamas from carrying out TV hostage release ceremonies. Under the previous truce, those handovers in which hostages thanked their abductors in front of television cameras sparked international outrage and local protest in Israel.
Fine diplomacy and shaky outcomes
Though Hamas has indicated it will accept, negotiators expect more talks to hammer out the intricacies of the implementation. Mediators are proceeding cautiously, aware that earlier attempts at a truce have fallen apart under mutual pressure.
The negotiations around a cease-fire take place at the same time that Gaza's human toll has become apocalyptic. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began, and large areas of the territory have been destroyed by Israeli bombing and ground incursions.
For Hamas, the fundamental question is whether international assurances are believable in yielding long-term peace. For Israel, the math involves rescuing the hostages and ensuring security while fending off external pressure to stop the campaign against Hamas.
As expectation mounts over Hamas's move, the shaky hope for peace hangs on whether the two sides are prepared to flex enough to enable a truce that does more than stop the fighting—and instead starts to close it out.
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