There are widespread reports emerging Tuesday that Hamas has rejected the major Israeli offer of a 2-month pause in fighting, which is being widely called the most significant and far-reaching ceasefire plan since the Gaza war began. The jihadist militant group is reportedly demanding that all Israeli forces first withdraw from Gaza for the plan to be possible.
However, Israeli media has also said that talks may still be underway despite the early reporting that Hamas has rebuffed the plan. The Jerusalem Post cautions, "Senior Israeli officials on Tuesday told Israeli media that the Qatari and Egyptian mediators have not notified them of Hamas's rejection of the two-month cease-fire deal proposed by the Israeli government."
The proposed deal includes multiple phases at the end of which all remaining hostages held in Gaza would be released. There's believed to still be over 130 captives.
We previously detailed some aspects of the plan, but it has since emerged through Egyptian negotiators speaking to the Associated Press that along with returning Palestinian prisoners in exchange, Hamas leaders in the Strip would be given safe passage to relocate to other countries.
According to Tuesday reports, "But Hamas rejected the proposal, insisting that no more hostages will be released until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its forces from Gaza entirely," an unnamed official said.
Neither side has publicly commented as of Tuesday morning, but fighting has continued raging particularly in and around the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
John Kirby last week: "We don't believe a ceasefire is gonna benefit anybody but Hamas"...
Israeli officials on Monday were cited as saying their outlook remains "cautiously optimistic." Biden's envoy Brett McGurk is in Egypt working with Qatar and other parties on hammering out the deal. According to more of the details via Axios:
- Under the proposed deal, Israel and Hamas would agree in advance on how many Palestinian prisoners would be released for each Israeli hostage in each category and then separate negotiations on the names of these prisoners would take place, the officials said.
- The Israeli officials said the proposal includes Israel redeploying Israeli Defense Forces so that some would be moved out of main population centers in the enclave and allowing a gradual return of Palestinian civilians to Gaza city and the northern Gaza strip as the deal is being implemented.
- The Israeli officials said the proposal makes clear Israel will not agree to end the war and will not agree to release all 6,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
The Israelis have yet to promise that will halt all military actions, but targeting would likely become more focused and smaller in scale. In the November deal, which included a successful ceasefire that held for a week, hundreds of Palestinians were freed from Israeli prisons.