It is the Reuters news agency that has today gained access to a document from Hamas. The proposal is an attempt to broker a new ceasefire agreement. Here, Hamas will advocate for the group to start indirect talks with Israel to end the war. All divided into three phases of 45 days each. In the first phase, civilian Israeli hostages, all but men, will be exchanged for Palestinian women and children who are in Israeli prisons. Senior researcher at Prio, Jørgen Jensehaugen, tries to clear things up a bit: Senior researcher at Prio, Jørgen Jensehaugen believes that both parties must change their ceasefire proposals before there is any agreement. Photo: Robert Rønning / news – Here, in a way, there are two proposals. One is that which the US has drawn up in collaboration with Qatar. It concerns an exchange of hostages and a temporary ceasefire. And in the meantime, Hamas has come up with a counter-proposal. It essentially means what Hamas has been demanding all along. In other words, a full hostage exchange for a prisoner exchange from Palestinians in Israeli prisons. In addition to Israel withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, the blockade ends and the reconstruction of the strip is ensured. Something that will lead to Hamas retaining power, Jensehaugen tells news. Hamas therefore demands that emergency aid be opened up, at the same time that Israeli soldiers withdraw from populated areas. In the second phase, Hamas is willing to release all male Israeli hostages in exchange for a certain number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. In addition, all Israeli ground forces must leave the Gaza Strip. Exchange of the dead In the third phase, Hamas advocates exchanging the remains of killed Israelis and killed Palestinians respectively. It is in this phase that Hamas demands that the war end. Now both Israel and the US say they have begun to review the proposals from Hamas. – This cease-fire proposal and the counter-proposal from Hamas really illustrate how big the gap still is. Netanyahu is against a long-term temporary ceasefire with the exchange of hostages, and he is at least against this counter-proposal to Hamas, Jensehaugen says before continuing: – Biden also said about this counter-proposal to Hamas that it “is a bit hard to take”. So that even though there are now intense negotiations for a ceasefire, the parties are very far apart, says Jensehaugen. – Generally positive One person who is a little positive, however, is Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al Thani. He describes Hamas’ feedback as generally positive. Hamas is said to have received the proposal from the mediators a week ago, but only gave its feedback yesterday as a result of certain uncertainties and ambiguities, reports Reuters. Now quite a lot of work remains before there is possibly a ceasefire in Gaza, we are to believe Jensehaugen. – Both parties must change their demands. Because there must be real pressure from outside. Now it is a bit like that the USA is putting a lot of rhetorical pressure on Netanyahu, but no real pressure. For example, they still protect them in the Security Council, and have a stream of arms deliveries to Israel. Now US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is in Israel, but he has not given any signals about how the US will react. President Joe Biden, for his part, has suggested that Hamas’s demands are too high, writes the BBC. Four months of war The war has lasted exactly four months on Wednesday. The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, in which about 1,140 people, according to Israeli authorities, were killed, led Israel to declare full war against Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Over 27,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the health authorities in the Palestinian Territory. The vast majority of the area’s 2.2 million inhabitants have been displaced from their homes, the material destruction is enormous and at least one in four inhabitants is starving, according to the UN.
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Hamas proposes ceasefire and prisoner exchange – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
