Hamas divisions over US-backed ceasefire proposal stall talks
Group’s military wing now willing to accept a six-week pause, officials say.
Divisions between the top leaders of Hamas are preventing the militant group from signing off on a US-backed proposal to stop the fighting in Gaza and free more hostages, according to officials.
In a reversal of the group’s usual dynamics, Hamas’s top leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and others, weary after months of war, say they are ready to accept the proposal for an initial six-week pause in fighting, the officials said. The organisation’s exiled political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, though, is demanding more concessions and wants to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.
Hamas’s internal disagreement is one of an array of obstacles facing the potential deal, the broad outlines of which were agreed upon by intelligence chiefs from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar last weekend. The proposal calls for an initial six-week pause in fighting, far longer than the week long ceasefire in November, and sets out a phased release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Negotiators plan to use the pause to broker an end to the war, making it difficult for Israel to resume a full-scale military campaign.
Hamas’s political wing is asking for nearly 3000 Palestinian prisoners to be freed – including some who were arrested after the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the current conflict – in exchange for 36 civilian hostages, Egyptian officials said. The militant group also is demanding that the hostage release be extended to four phases instead of three.
Israeli negotiators, meanwhile, are demanding a full list of all hostages, alive and dead, and assurance from Hamas that they would all be released in the multiphase deal. Hamas officials argued that they would need more time to find all the hostages, especially those who might have died due to Israeli strikes on Gaza.
The proposal also awaits a decision from Israel’s war cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after it received broad approval from the head of the Mossad intelligence agency, who participated in the negotiations. Mr Netanyahu’s ultranationalist coalition partners are opposed to an agreement that could lead to the end of the war. Others in Israel favour a deal as the most viable way to free some of the remaining hostages held by militants in Gaza.
The US is pressing for a ceasefire deal in the hope it would lead to a lasting truce amid a spiralling humanitarian crisis, escalating death toll in the strip and the spectre of wider regional conflict.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank on Sunday as part of efforts to secure a deal that would free hostages and pause the fighting in Gaza.
Despite the many obstacles to a ceasefire, officials brokering the talks have expressed optimism in recent days that they can bridge the remaining gaps in the coming weeks. Even if a deal is agreed, officials and analysts tracking the talks say that both the Israeli government and Hamas have reason to potentially return to fighting before a long-term ceasefire can be negotiated.
The Wall Street Journal
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