After the delivery of the updated Israeli answer to the 29 concerns of Hamas on the previous proposal, Hamas announced that it has no intention of flexing and clarified “we will not agree to new conditions.”
The new Israeli proposal includes checking the Gazans who will return, subject to the deal, to the northern Gaza Strip, in order to make sure that they are not armed terrorists who pose a threat to the State of Israel.
According to the proposal insisted on by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the inspection will be conducted in the Netzer corridor by a “foreign entity” – not Israeli, but it is not yet clear how. The proposal also states that the IDF will change the locations it was in the Gaza Strip in the first phase of the deal, but that the IDF will remain in the Philadelphia axis. Also, Israel added the requirement to receive in advance the list of the living abductees to be released.
Following Hamas’s rejection of Israel’s updated proposal, a senior member of the terrorist organization, Osama Hamadan, was interviewed by the Lebanese Al Midain channel: “There is no deal if there is a continued Israeli presence in Gaza. The mediators made serious proposals that meet the basic demands of the Palestinian people and we agreed to them – but Israel did not wants to stop its aggression, it is trying to pressure the resistance by escalating its military operations, we will not accept any presence of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.”
It was also stated by the senior official in the terrorist organization that “Hamas sticks to its position regarding the need for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including from the Netzer Corridor and the Philadelphia axis. It has informed the mediators that it will not accept any new text that does not include a clear text regarding a ceasefire.”
Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday (Friday) that the head of the Mossad, Dadi Barnea, is expected to fly to Rome at the beginning of the week, together with the head of the Prisoners and Missing Persons Directorate, Nitzan Alon, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronan Bar, for a four-way summit meeting that includes the head of the CIA, the prime minister of Qatar, and the head of Egyptian intelligence.
The Israeli delegation estimates that Hamas will not accept the Israeli demands, which include, as mentioned, the prevention of armed terrorists from entering the northern Gaza Strip, and the continued control of the Palestinian Authority along the Philadelphia route.
In addition to this, Netanyahu added another demand, according to which the list of terrorists whose release Hamas will demand will be published on the first day of the deal – contrary to the previous proposal in which it was agreed that the list would be published a week after the deal is implemented.
The negative reactions of Hamas cause various parties anonymously to point the finger of blame at Netanyahu, fearing that his insistence on the security level could delay or even jeopardize the deal.
At the same time, optimistic voices are beginning to be heard towards the deal being forged, both from Defense Minister Galant and President Herzog, who said last week that the conditions are ripe for a deal, and from the families of abductees who met with US President Biden and said that there is a greater rapprochement with the deal today than there has been in recent months.
On Thursday, meetings were held between the Prime Minister and senior officials in the White House, including President Biden and his deputy who will replace him in the presidential race – Kamala Harris. The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu took place in part with the families of the abductees, including Ruby and Hagit Chen, parents of the late Sgt. Itai Chen, whose body was kidnapped and is being held in Gaza. The parents told Israeli channel N12 after the meeting that “the American president gave us hope that something will happen in the coming days.”
