In the indirect negotiations in Cairo, the fronts appear to have hardened further. Hamas is said to be planning to present a counter-proposal for an agreement soon. The events at a glance.
There are no signs of a breakthrough so far in the indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. Israel will under no circumstances agree to an agreement that includes an Israeli commitment to end the war, the Times of Israel newspaper quoted an official briefed on the talks underway in Egypt as saying late Saturday evening. Arab media reports suggesting that Israel would give mediators guarantees that the war would end were false. Hamas continues to demand that Israel agree to end the war as a condition for a deal, “thus thwarting the possibility of reaching a deal,” the official said.
Hopes for an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages rose on Saturday when a delegation of Hamas’ political leadership from the Gulf emirate of Qatar arrived in Cairo to continue indirect talks. Hamas circles said that people arrive with a “positive attitude” in order to reach an agreement. Israel, on the other hand, is not sending a team to the Egyptian capital for the time being. Israel will only send a delegation once Hamas has responded to a proposal for an agreement, the Israeli Kan broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing a government representative. A government spokesman did not want to comment on this when asked. If Hamas approves the draft, Israel will send a delegation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.
Blinken: Difficult to understand what Hamas is thinking
Meanwhile, the United States asked Qatar to expel Hamas’ political leadership from the country if the Islamist organization in Cairo does not agree to an agreement, the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed official as saying on Saturday evening. The Gulf Emirate is ready to comply if asked, it said. However, Hamas’s actual decision-makers are “the people who are in the Gaza Strip itself and with whom none of us have direct contact,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said. “So it’s a challenge to understand what they’re thinking.” There are various theories as to what is currently driving Hamas’ decisions.
Report: Hamas reportedly plans to present counterproposal soon
According to the Wall Street Journal, Hamas’s military leader in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, spoke for the first time on Friday through Hamas representatives about the mediators’ latest proposal for an agreement. This proposal comes closest to the demands of his terrorist organization so far, but Sinwar has made a number of reservations, it said, citing the Arab mediators. Sinwar is believed to be in Hamas tunnels beneath the sealed-off coastal area. Hamas is expected to present a counterproposal soon, it said. Hamas wants international guarantees that Israel will begin negotiations on a way to permanently silence the weapons, the newspaper further quoted the mediators as saying.
Egyptian sources told the Wall Street Journal that Israel had given Hamas one more week to agree to a ceasefire agreement. Otherwise, Israel will launch the announced ground offensive on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. 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 hostages 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 Gaza. Israel, which has declared the complete destruction of Hamas as its goal, has so far rejected this.
Report: Extremists are said to have stolen large sums of money
Armed Palestinians are said to have stolen very large sums of money in a series of raids on the Bank of Palestine in the Gaza Strip last month, according to a media report. Overall, the bank has losses of the equivalent of more than 66 million euros, wrote the French newspaper “Le Monde” on Saturday. The paper referred to a bank document from April 20th that the financial institution had sent to international partners.
The cash – in Israeli shekels – was stolen from vaults at various branches in the coastal strip, sometimes using explosives. It is believed that Palestinian militants with ties to the terrorist organization Hamas, which ruled the area without restrictions until the Gaza war, carried out at least one of the attacks.
