Hamas rejects Israeli ceasefire proposal: Key points revealed

Shafaq News/ Hamas stated early on Tuesday that Israel’s proposal, received via Qatari and Egyptian mediators, failed to meet the demands of Palestinian factions. However, the group stated that it would examine the proposal, characterized as “intransigent,” and communicate its response to the mediators.

A Hamas official informed Reuters on Monday that the group had rejected the Israeli ceasefire proposal discussed in Cairo.

Both Israel and Hamas dispatched teams to Egypt on Sunday for talks involving Qatari and Egyptian mediators, as well as CIA Director William Burns. Burns’ involvement underscored mounting pressure from the U.S., Israel’s primary ally, for an agreement to free Israeli hostages in Gaza and provide aid to needy Palestinian civilians after six months of conflict.

However, senior Hamas official Ali Baraka told Reuters, “We reject the latest Israeli proposals the Egyptian side conveys. The politburo convened today and made this decision.”

Another Hamas official, speaking anonymously, told Reuters that the negotiations had not progressed. “There is no change in the occupation’s (Israel’s) position, so there is no new development in the Cairo talks,” the official stated. “There has been no progress thus far.”

Israel expressed a willingness to negotiate a prisoner-for-hostage swap, wherein it would release Palestinians held in its prisons in exchange for hostages in Gaza. However, Israel insisted it would not halt its military offensive until it entered Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that a timeline had been set for an incursion into Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians.

As per the Agence France-Presse mentioned proposal, the initial stage involves releasing 42 Israeli hostages (including soldiers, children, and elderly individuals) in exchange for 800 to 900 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including roughly a hundred serving lengthy sentences, including life imprisonment, as explained by an anonymous source close to the negotiations.

AFP noted that the initial stage also encompasses facilitating the return of displaced Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza, with 400 to 500 aid trucks allowed entry daily.

The second stage entails the release of all remaining hostages.

The third and final stage calls for a complete Israeli army withdrawal from Gaza and the lifting of the blockade imposed by Israel on the territory since Hamas’s 2007 takeover.

Israel estimates that Gaza currently holds 129 hostages, including 34 who have died.”

Netanyahu stated, “We are continually striving for our objectives, primarily the release of all our hostages and achieving a decisive victory over Hamas.” He added, “This victory necessitates entering Rafah and neutralizing the terrorist elements there. It will happen – a date has been set,” without specifying the date.

Israel estimates that Gaza currently holds 129 hostages, including 34 who have died.

Israel faces mounting international pressure, including from its primary ally and arms provider, the United States, to agree to a ceasefire. It also faces increasing calls to refrain from launching an offensive against Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza.