Hamas said on Wednesday that its main proposed amendment to the latest draft of a ceasefire agreement is for Israeli forces to withdraw more than 800 metres from residential areas in Gaza.
The announcement followed Israel’s demand for the release of all 50 hostages held in the Palestinian territory, contradicting the current proposal for a phased release and dimming hopes for a last-ditch truce.
Israel has yet to formally respond to the ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatar and Egypt, which Hamas has agreed to.
A senior official in the Palestinian militant group told The National Hamas thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not agree” to the new draft.
He said the previous terms “proposed withdrawals to a depth less than what the movement demanded, but Hamas insisted on Israeli withdrawal of more than 800 metres from residential areas”.
The official confirmed that Hamas has also accepted that it won't govern Gaza, but insisted that the Palestinian Authority cannot rule the Strip alone.
“Hamas does not object to Gaza being administered by a body of local professionals, and governing the Strip is not a priority for Hamas. But the Palestinian Authority has not engaged positively, and if it seeks to rule Gaza alone, that will not succeed,” he said.
Qatar on Tuesday urged Israel to accept a 60-day truce to avert a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the strip. Hamas accepted the proposal, which would provide for the initial release of 10 hostages.
Local media reports say Israel will give a formal response by Friday.
“What Netanyahu is doing in Gaza is an attempt to humiliate Hamas, to break the movement, and to force it to accept his terms,” said the official, adding that 70 per cent of Gaza is now under Israeli occupation.
Comprehensive agreement
Qatar said the proposal that Hamas has agreed to is “almost identical” to an earlier plan put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Israel had previously agreed to the outline of the Witkoff plan, but withdrew negotiators from Qatar last month and blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a deal. Since then, it has approved plans for a new offensive to seize Gaza city, forcing renewed efforts to stop the war.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz approved the Gaza city occupation plan.
“We received the response, as we said, from Hamas. It was a very positive response,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on Tuesday. “However, we are still, of course, awaiting the Israeli side's response to this proposal.”
He added that while there was no time frame for a response, Israel was looking into the matter and “we hope for a quick and positive response”.
The proposal includes a path to a comprehensive agreement to end the war, Mr Al Ansari said.
According to sources close to the negotiations, Hamas has agreed to lay down and store its weapons under international supervision. It has also agreed to the deployment of an Arab force in Gaza under UN supervision to maintain security.
The sources said Hamas told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that it has dropped its condition for a written US guarantee on negotiations with Israel over a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and for the ceasefire to continue until such an agreement is reached.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that sparked the war, 50 are still in Gaza.
Hamas and other factions killed 1,200 Israelis in the assault on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities. Since then, Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in its war on Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the enclave's health authorities.
A permanent ceasefire
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he spoke to the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders about the prospects of a ceasefire, and condemned Israel's planned campaign in Gaza City.
"I have just spoken with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt. We share the same conviction: The military offensive in Gaza that Israel is preparing can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war," he wrote on X.
"We believe that only the following course of action can bring this conflict to an end: The establishment of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; the release of all hostages; the large-scale delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza; the disarmament of Hamas and the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza," he added.
"To achieve this, together with Egypt, Jordan, and all our regional and international partners, we must: Deploy an international stabilisation mission for Gaza; work towards a political solution that fulfils the aspirations of both peoples, Israeli and Palestinian."
