After about three weeks of silence on the ceasefire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the armed faction Hamas recently communicated a new stance to Israel. Some foreign media outlets claimed the two sides would soon agree on a rough ceasefire plan.
According to the Times of Israel (TOI), the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced in a statement on July 3 that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had delivered a statement to the Prime Minister’s Office. Mossad announced that the armed faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip had conveyed its position on the outline of hostage negotiations through the negotiating mediator and that it was evaluating Hamas’s position and would respond to the mediator. Mossad did not mention the specific content of the talks.
On the same day, Ismail Haniyeh, Head of the Hamas Political Bureau in exile in Qatar, exchanged views with ceasefire mediators in Qatar and Egypt. It was reported that Haniyeh also met with officials in Türkiye. Hamas stated on July 3 that it had conveyed the latest demands through the mediator and hoped to conclude negotiations to stop the war and would continue to contact the mediators. Hamas announced that it had exchanged views with the mediators to stop the war and the full withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. They also claimed that they could flexibly change their demands despite Israel’s deception and evasion.
As of July 4, the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip has been ongoing for 272 days. Despite discussing a ceasefire in earnest this year, no progress has been made. U.S. President Joe Biden, who stepped in to mediate, pressured both sides to accept a three-step ceasefire plan on May 31. He proposed a partial withdrawal of the Israeli army and the release of some Israeli hostages as the first step and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army and the release of the remaining hostages as the second step. The third step starts with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the repatriation of the bodies.
However, Hamas rejected Biden’s proposal on June 11 and demanded a full withdrawal of the Israeli army and a permanent ceasefire. In response, Israel announced that it could no longer negotiate.
On July 3, CNN quoted an Israeli government official who claimed that Israel and Hamas would soon agree on a negotiation framework for a ceasefire and hostage release. The official predicted that the two sides would first agree on the basics and then enter detailed negotiations.
On July 2, the New York Times (NYT) quoted Israeli officials saying that even if they fail to achieve the goal of war to remove Hamas, Israeli army generals want a ceasefire. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized, “The war will end when Israel has destroyed Hamas and rescued all the hostages, achieving all its goals,” and “I will not succumb to defeatist winds.”
