“Position is negative”
Hamas leaders divided over ceasefire offer
May 2, 2024, 6:48 a.m
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Israel, Hamas representatives and mediators have been talking about a ceasefire for many weeks. Some Islamists in exile support the current proposal, but skepticism prevails in Lebanon and Gaza. There are numerous pitfalls, according to the accusation. Above all, Hamas representatives lack a guarantee.
According to a media report, the leader of the Islamist Hamas in the embattled Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, is skeptical about the latest offer to negotiate a hostage deal. It is not an offer from the Egyptian mediators, but an Israeli one “in American guise” that contains a number of pitfalls, a source close to the Hamas leader told the Israeli television station Channel 12 on Wednesday evening. The current draft contains no guarantee that the war will end.
As part of mediation efforts in Cairo, Hamas was presented with a proposal for a ceasefire in return for the release of hostages. An answer is still pending. The Islamist organization has so far insisted on an end to the war, which Israel rejects. The Israeli government has announced a rapid start to the controversial offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt if an agreement is not reached.
Lebanon-based Hamas representative Osama Hamdan told the Al-Manar television station, which is controlled by the pro-Iranian Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon: “Our position on the current negotiating document is negative,” as the Times of Israel reported that night. However, according to the Hamas press office, this does not mean a break in negotiations. Saher Jabarin, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, indicated that no final decision had yet been made. According to the newspaper, the organization planned to submit a response to the latest proposal in the next few hours.
A response from the Islamist Palestinian organization to the latest proposal is still pending. According to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the proposal calls for a 40-day ceasefire and the release of “potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners” in return for the release of the remaining hostages from Israel.
Some Hamas representatives for suggestion
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently urged Hamas to agree to the proposal. “It is Hamas that is blocking the path to the ceasefire,” Blinken said in Israel on Wednesday, according to his Foreign Office spokesman Matthew Miller. Blinken spoke of a “very strong proposal” that was on the table. Hamas must “agree to this and bring the matter to an end.”
Statements by Hamas leaders in exile should not be viewed as official positions of the Islamist organization, al-Sinwar’s confidante told the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. The Gaza leader now only relies on two close followers who control the Gaza Strip on his decision-making had left the order before Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th last year. According to the Times of Israel, there have been recent statements by exiled Hamas leaders in favor of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.