Hamas officers have proven Al Jazeera a replica of the Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal that the motion says it has agreed to.
The proposal consists of three phases and would see an finish to Israel’s conflict on Gaza in addition to the discharge of Israeli captives held within the enclave and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas’s announcement on Monday was met with celebrations in Gaza as Palestinians hoped it could lastly deliver an finish to an almost seven-month-long conflict, during which Israel has killed a minimum of 34,700 individuals within the Palestinian territory.
Nonetheless, Israel’s response has been much less enthusiastic, because it continued to stress its want to assault Rafah in southern Gaza and to fully defeat Hamas.
Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7 killed about 1,400 individuals, whereas 250 have been taken captive to Gaza. Roughly 100 of these captives are believed to nonetheless be alive and in Gaza, with others launched or killed throughout the conflict.
For his or her half, United States officers have refused to supply detailed touch upon the information.
![Palestinians react after Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar, in Rafah](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-05-06T180107Z_325021672_RC25L7A728N3_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-1715018593.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C433)
What’s the deal Hamas says it agreed to?
The settlement is a sophisticated one and would contain three phases, every of which might final six weeks.
Within the first section, there can be a brief cessation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel in addition to a withdrawal of Israeli forces to the east, away from the extra heavily-populated areas of Gaza, and in the direction of the border between Israel and the Palestinian enclave. Israeli airplanes and drones would additionally cease flying over Gaza for 10 hours every day, and for 12 hours on days when captives are launched.
Hamas would step by step launch 33 captives (whether or not captives who’re alive or the stays of captives who’ve died) within the first section. The captives can be ladies, anybody above the age of fifty, those that are sick or non-soldiers underneath the age of 19. For every civilian Israeli captive launched alive, Israel would launch 30 Palestinians it has detained. For each feminine soldier launched by Hamas, Israel would launch 50 Palestinians.
The withdrawal of Israeli forces would permit displaced Palestinian civilians to return to their houses throughout Gaza, which might happen step by step as Hamas releases captives. Individually, the deal stipulates that reconstruction work in Gaza should start on this section, in addition to the move of support, and that UNRWA and different reduction organisations be allowed to work to assist civilians.
Within the second section of the deal, there can be a everlasting finish to navy operations and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. There would even be one other prisoner swap, this time involving all of the remaining Israeli males, together with troopers held captive in Gaza. The Israelis can be launched in return for an as-yet unspecified variety of Palestinian prisoners.
The third section would see an trade of the stays of captives and prisoners held by either side. On the event facet, this section would contain a three-to-five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and, maybe most importantly, an finish to the Israeli blockade of the enclave.
What has the response been from Israel?
Israel had on Monday advised Palestinians in japanese Rafah to go away because it ready to launch a navy marketing campaign within the southern Gaza space, regardless of worldwide opposition. This appeared to point the Israelis didn’t suppose a deal was on the playing cards.
However now, as Hamas’s deputy chief Khalil al-Hayya put it, the ball is in Israel’s court docket. The Israelis have responded warily. Preliminary experiences within the Israeli media pushed the message that the deal Hamas had agreed to was not what Israel had been discussing.
In the meantime, far-right Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir instantly took to social media to reject the deal and name for the invasion of Rafah.
An Israeli official chatting with the Reuters information company added that Hamas’s announcement appeared “to be a ruse supposed to make Israel seem like the facet refusing a deal”.
Ultimately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the deal fell in need of Israel’s calls for however that he would ship a delegation to Cairo to satisfy negotiators.
He added that Israel’s conflict cupboard had agreed unanimously to “proceed the operation in Rafah to exert navy strain on Hamas”, and on Monday evening, intense Israeli air assaults came about in southern Gaza.
In the meantime, members of the family of captives held in Gaza protested in Tel Aviv, calling for the federal government to simply accept a deal.
How have Palestinians in Gaza reacted?
Palestinians throughout Gaza instantly took to the streets to have fun. For the enclave’s inhabitants, a deal would spell the tip of what has been a devastating conflict, during which the entire of Gaza has been decimated and loss of life has not spared most households.
Nonetheless, a few of that pleasure has been tempered by the fact this deal has solely been agreed to on one facet. So whereas many stay optimistic, Palestinians know this isn’t the tip of the conflict – significantly as Israel continues to rain down bombs.
US officers on the White Home and the State Division have been repeatedly requested by journalists throughout information briefings about Hamas’s acceptance of the deal.
However Matthew Miller, the State Division spokesperson, and John Kirby, the White Home Nationwide Safety spokesperson, refused to get into any particulars, with Miller saying Washington would “withhold judgement” till officers had time to completely evaluate Hamas’s response.
Miller declined to say whether or not Hamas had agreed to a US-approved provide or to a special model of the proposal.
“As you recognize, [CIA] Director [William] Burns is within the area engaged on this in real-time. We can be discussing this response with our companions over the approaching hours,” he continued.
In the meantime, Kirby stated that President Joe Biden had been briefed on Hamas’s response, including that talks have been at a “important stage” and he didn’t wish to say something that will jeopardise the prospects of reaching an settlement.