Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed cease-fire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components. Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the group remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent cease-fire. Hamdan also said the group seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences. He mentioned two by name, including Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian uprising leader seen as a unifying figure.
Quick Read
- Hamas Studies Cease-Fire Proposal: Hamas is considering a cease-fire deal involving extended fighting pauses in Gaza and exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
- Resistance to Key Components: Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan signals opposition to parts of the multi-stage cease-fire proposal, particularly the absence of a permanent cease-fire.
- Prisoner Release Demands: Hamas demands the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile figures like Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat.
- International Proposal Challenges: The proposed cease-fire plan, lacking a permanent truce, faces rejection from Hamas, with Israel insisting on continuing the fight while agreeing to temporary pauses.
- Hostage Situation: Around 250 hostages were taken by Hamas during an attack, with some already exchanged for Palestinian prisoners during a previous truce.
- Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: The conflict has resulted in over 27,000 Palestinian deaths and widespread displacement, with 85% of Gaza’s population displaced.
- Buffer Zone Concerns: Hamas accuses Israel of creating a buffer zone inside Gaza, with satellite images showing border demolitions.
- Ongoing Fighting in Khan Younis: Israeli military operations continue in Khan Younis, exacerbating the humanitarian situation in the southern Gaza Strip.
- Hamas’s Stance on Cease-Fire: Despite considering the proposal, Hamas maintains its demands for Israeli withdrawal and a comprehensive cease-fire.
- Multi-Stage Cease-Fire Proposal: The plan, involving initial and subsequent phases of cease-fire and prisoner exchanges, is under review by Hamas with possible requests for amendments.
The Associated Press has the story:
Hamas says it’s studying Gaza cease-fire, hostages swap proposal
Newslooks- BEIRUT (AP) —
Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed cease-fire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the group remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent cease-fire. Hamdan also said the group seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences. He mentioned two by name, including Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian uprising leader seen as a unifying figure.
Hamdan’s comments on the prisoners were the most detailed demands yet to be raised by the group in public.
The insistence on large-scale prisoner releases and on an end to the fighting in Gaza put the group at odds with the multi-stage proposal that officials from Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the United States put forth this week. The proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire.
“There is no way that this will be acceptable by the resistance,” Hamdan told Lebanon’s LBC TV on Friday, referring to proposed successive pauses in fighting.
Israeli leaders have said they will keep fighting until Hamas is crushed, even while agreeing to long pauses that are accompanied by the release of hostages.
Hamas and other militants captured about 250 hostages during their deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war. They continue to hold dozens of captives, after more than 100 were released during a one-week truce in November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Since Israel’s offensive began, more than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The conflict has also left vast swaths of the tiny coastal enclave leveled, displaced 85% of its population and pushed a quarter of residents to starvation.
In his remarks, Hamdan also said Hamas wants to free Palestinian prisoners of all factions — not just those affiliated with the militant group. In addition to Barghouti, he named Ahmed Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction.
The prisoner release is a “national cause, not only for Hamas,” he said.
Both Barghouti and Saadat were convicted of involvement in fatal attacks during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel’s occupation a generation ago.
Alluding to additional points of dispute, Hamdan also said that Israel is carving out a buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border. Israel has not acknowledged such plans officially, but satellite photos show new demolition along a 1-kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) path along the border between Israel and the enclave.
As the war nears the four-month mark, fighting continued in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said Friday that its efforts focused on fighters, weapons and infrastructure in the city, a key target of Israel’s ground offensive in recent weeks.
Tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas have fled south to the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, which the United Nations said on Friday is becoming a “pressure cooker of despair.”
“We fear for what comes next,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “It’s like every week we think, you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go figure. It gets worse.”
Hamdan’s remarks reaffirmed statements from other Hamas officials, including the group’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who said Tuesday that the group was studying the terms but remained committed to seeking the “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza and steps toward a long-term cease-fire.
Another Hamas official said Friday that the group would answer “very soon” and ask for several unspecified changes. He refused to give any details on what they’re seeking or how many hostages would be released in return for how many prisoners.
The multi-stage proposal on the table was drafted by officials from the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. Qatar and Egypt have been serving as mediators between Israel and Hamas.
A senior Egyptian official familiar with the discussions on Friday described the proposal, which he said Hamas had sent positive signals about. The Egyptian official and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity because the indirect talks are still ongoing.
The proposal, according to the Egyptian official, includes an initial cease-fire of six to eight weeks during which Hamas would release elderly hostages, women and children in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Throughout that phase, negotiations would continue on prolonging the cease-fire and releasing more prisoners and hostages. Israel would allow the number of aid trucks to entering Gaza would increase to up to 300 daily — from a few dozen currently — and let displaced Gaza residents gradually return to their homes in the north, according to the proposal.
