Israeli officials said on Tuesday that major differences remained with Hamas over the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza, as delegations from both sides arrived in Cairo to resume talks.
Hamas said on Monday it had accepted the terms of a ceasefire proposed by Arab mediators, and U.S. officials said it had minor wording changes to a proposal Israel and the United States had recently presented to the group.
But Israeli officials disputed that characterization, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Tuesday that his war cabinet unanimously believed that the proposal Hamas had accepted was “very far from Israel’s fundamental demands.”
The text of the revised proposal circulated in Israeli media on Tuesday and a senior Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. A person briefed on the negotiations also described the differences in the positions of both sides. Here are the keys:
‘Sustainable calm’
The most substantial sticking point centers on a key phrase that appears in the proposals approved by both Israel and Hamas: a path to “sustainable calm.”
In the proposal that Israel approved and that Egypt conveyed to Hamas leaders on April 26, the two sides would work to achieve “sustainable calm” in Gaza after an initial six-week lull in fighting. That proposal left those two words open to interpretation.
But in the proposal approved by Hamas, that term is clearly defined as a permanent cessation of hostilities and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has consistently opposed any deal that explicitly calls for a permanent ceasefire or an end to the war, and has said it will not accept either until it feels its military offensive has achieved its objectives. Ehud Yaari, a fellow at the Israel-based Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Hamas’ timetable would commit Israel to ending the war while Hamas still holds hostages, leaving Israel without any leverage.
Israel might have been willing to discuss ending the war later in the process, but would not commit to doing so from the beginning, according to experts.
“If you sign the agreement, you agree to comply with everything,” Yaari said.
Hostage releases
The first phase of a three-phase deal would be the six-week pause in fighting, during which Israel would exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails for 33 of the most vulnerable hostages held in Gaza. Those are all women, including female soldiers, as well as older men and the sick and injured. Israel had reduced its initial demand for about 40 hostages in that category because it came to believe that only 33 were still alive, out of a total of 132 hostages still being held in Gaza.
But Hamas informed negotiators on Monday that not all of the 33 who would be freed in the first phase were still alive, and that the remains of those who died would be among the releases, a revelation that surprised Israelis.
Additionally, Hamas has suggested a framework that would prolong the release of hostages by releasing three on the third day after the pause begins, and then three more every seven days after that. An earlier proposal called for the release of three hostages every three days.
Prolonging the releases, analysts say, would mean that negotiations on the second phase of the agreement (reaching a “sustainable calm”) would take place while Hamas had more bargaining chips. And Israelis also fear that compromising on this situation would increase the chance that more, sicker hostages will die before they are freed.
Israeli veto on prisoners
The proposal Israel agreed to in April allowed it to veto the release of some of the Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences (those expected to be exchanged for Israeli soldiers held hostage) from a list of 200 names. The proposal approved by Hamas eliminated any Israeli right to refuse.
The Israeli government was largely presenting the start of its ground operation in Rafah as a way to pressure the group to soften its negotiating stance. Hamas called the Israeli operation a “dangerous escalation” aimed at “disrupting mediation efforts for a ceasefire and the release of prisoners.”
Still, as both sides sent delegations to Cairo on Tuesday for talks on a ceasefire, White House spokesman John F. Kirby said: “There should be no reason why they cannot bridge the remaining gaps.” “.
Julian E. Barnes, Adam Rasgon, Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck contributed with reports.