Negotiations fail
Mossad: Hamas not interested in ceasefire
March 9, 2024, 11:36 p.m
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Before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, fears of further escalation in the Middle East are growing. According to Israeli sources, the Islamist Hamas does not want a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Instead, the organization aims to “set the region on fire.”
According to the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, Hamas in the Gaza Strip is currently not interested in a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Rather, the Islamist organization is seeking to “set the (Middle East) region on fire in the (Muslim fasting month) of Ramadan,” Mossad chief David Barnea said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office. At the same time, Israel remains in contact with the mediators USA, Qatar and Egypt and cooperates with them, the statement noted.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating a temporary ceasefire in indirect talks for several weeks. The aim is also to exchange Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Barnea leads the Israeli delegation. However, an agreement proposed by the mediators and accepted by Israel has so far failed from both Israeli and American perspectives due to Hamas’s intransigent stance.
Barnea’s negotiating team has therefore not appeared at the indirect talks in Cairo for almost a week. The main point of conflict is that Hamas insists on a binding commitment from Israel to end the war and withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip. However, the mediators’ proposal only calls for a six-week ceasefire and a first phase of exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners. During the ceasefire, the sides should then negotiate a permanent ceasefire and the modalities of the release of all remaining hostages. For its part, Israel shows no willingness to move away from this step-by-step plan.
“Maximum tidal wave on the streets and fronts”
The US had originally pushed for an agreement to be finalized by the start of Ramadan. The month of fasting, a particularly holy time for Muslims, begins on Sunday evening. It is unlikely that a deal will be reached by then. Islamists and radical Muslims also attribute Ramadan to a special role in jihad, the holy war. Israel is therefore expecting increased tensions and conflicts in the occupied West Bank and around the holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem.
On Friday, Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida called on Palestinians in a video message to march to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount during the month of fasting. “May the blessed month of Ramadan (…) become the maximum tidal wave on the streets and fronts inside and outside Palestine,” he said. Hamas calls the attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered the Gaza war, the “Al-Aqsa tidal wave.”