Hamas Reject Israeli Deceitful Ceasefire Negotiation Terms

On August 18, after days of negotiations, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance “Hamas” released a sharp statement, rejecting the terms of the ceasefire negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

After the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Iran’s promise to respond to this assassination, all mediating parties, including the United States, have attempted to end tensions by implementing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible to reduce and prevent the possibility of an all-out war. According to CNN, Washington has asked Tehran, through mediators, not to attack Israel, as there is a path to a Gaza deal.

This issue is of great importance for America, especially for President Biden, who is on the eve of the election. According to Axios, citing informed officials, President Joe Biden plans to finalize the Gaza ceasefire and the prisoner release agreement by the end of next week. However, there is still no clear prospect for peace.

The talks have been ongoing for days, but there is no sign of progress. Today, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli officials. Some believe he went to Tel Aviv to put pressure on Netanyahu and soften him in the ceasefire talks.

In his final statement, Blinken emphasized the urgency of reaching an agreement on Gaza and returning the Israeli prisoners. He stated that this may be the last chance to secure their return, and stressed that it is a critical moment for the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

Although there was no detailed information about the contents of the negotiations until yesterday, the different angles of the story are gradually becoming clear.

Based on the leaked information, these are some of the details proposed in the Doha ceasefire talks meeting:

⁃ The Israeli army will reduce its military presence in the Philadelphia axis (south of Rafah city and the Egyptian border), but will not withdraw from it.
⁃ The Palestinian National Authority must take over the management of the Rafah crossing under the supervision of Israel.
⁃ The Israeli army will fully monitor and control the refugees who return to the north of the Gaza Strip through the Netzarim Corridor.
⁃ A large number of Palestinian prisoners will be deported from the country after their release from prison
⁃ Israel’s veto right to refuse the release of at least 100 security prisoners.

According to the leaked information, it is evident that the Israeli government not only failed to abide by the terms of the previous agreement but also introduced new conditions, making it harder to reach a lasting ceasefire. Under the new terms, Israel intends to maintain control over the Netzarim corridor and other areas in the Gaza Strip, showing no willingness to withdraw from Gaza and offering no significant concessions to the other party.

On the other hand, the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, finally reacted to the non-constructive process of negotiations in Doha by issuing a statement on August 18 and rejecting the negotiations. Hamas believes that Netanyahu and his government are the main obstacles to a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas’ statement comes as follows:

“We cooperated with all the efforts made by the mediators in Qatar and Egypt, and showed flexibility concerning all the proposed suggestions to pave the way for reaching an agreement to halt the aggression against our nation as well as to finalize a prisoner swap deal.

After listening to the mediators’ proposals in the ceasefire talks, it became obvious to us that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to get in the way of reaching a truce agreement.

The new suggestions are in line with Netanyahu’s conditions and in the favor of the Zionist regime, especially because these proposals reject a permanent ceasefire and an all-out withdrawal of the Israeli regime’s military forces from the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu set new conditions regarding the prisoner swap deal and withdrew from other clauses of the existing proposal in a bid to prevent the finalization of the prisoner swap deal.

We hold the Israeli prime minister fully responsible for hindering the endeavors made by the mediators as well as creating trouble in the way of achieving the ceasefire agreement and in respect of the lives of Israeli prisoners, who are exposed to the same risk to which the Palestinian people are exposed.

We reaffirm our commitment to whatever we agreed to on June 2 and call on the mediators to show that they are assuming their responsibility and to force the Israeli foe to implement what has been agreed upon regarding the ceasefire deal.”

The senior government officials of Egypt, the United States and Qatar will meet again, this time in the Egyptian capital Cairo before the end of this week to reach an agreement according to the terms proposed on Friday. Due to the failure of the Doha negotiations, the fate of the discussions in Cairo is likely doomed.

It was predictable that the ceasefire talks in Doha would fail. Due to Netanyahu’s challenging political and legal position inside and outside Israel, it’s unlikely that he will accept peace talks. Netanyahu’s political survival is closely linked to achieving a decisive victory in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing war on the northern front, the grave security situation in the West Bank, and the unstable political situation in the government in Tel Aviv have all significantly damaged Israel’s reputation. Tel Aviv is attempting to restore its lost status through any means.

The mediation efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in return for the release of the remaining 110 Israeli captives kicked off several months ago. Following different rounds of indirect talks held in Egypt and Qatar, the warrying sides have yet to reach a deal. The endeavors have not yielded any tangible result because of Netanyahu’s refusal to cease the genocidal war on Gaza.

The devastating war has left more than 40,000 martyrs and over 92,600 wounded in Gaza. The onslaught has created a dire humanitarian situation which is being deteriorated because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli regime on entry of food and medicine.