File photo : A man holds up a Palestinian flag while standing atop the rubble of a collapsed building at the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip. AFP
The 60-day plan—approved by Hamas earlier in the day and now awaiting Israel’s response—envisions a partial truce and phased release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
It is based on an initiative by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Rashwan said the deal reaffirms Palestinians’ right to an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He noted growing international momentum behind the two-state solution and said Egypt is preparing a reconstruction conference once a ceasefire is secured.
“This issue is more than 80 years old,” Rashwan said. “To imagine it will be solved in weeks, amid such aggression and complexity, is unrealistic.”
The current plan, he added, is “a first, essential step” toward a just settlement based on international legitimacy.
The SIS head noted that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached “its utmost severity,” pointing to evidence not only from Palestinian and international reports issued by United Nations (UN) agencies, but also from the unprecedented reactions of European governments.
“For the first time in Israel’s history, we see official voices in Western Europe rejecting famine and killing,” he said.
On the humanitarian crisis, Rashwan said Gaza had reached “its utmost severity,” citing UN reports and “unprecedented” European reactions.
He stressed that aid would enter through specialized international agencies, not Israel, using existing population databases.
He also pointed to turmoil inside Israel, with Netanyahu reliant on far-right allies yet facing pressure from the opposition, protests, and the army.
“Netanyahu holds a majority in the Knesset through an alliance with the far-right, and the government could collapse if those parties withdraw,” he said.
“This mix of crises and opportunities makes Israel’s response unpredictable. But the decisive factor remains American intervention,” he added.
The plan foresees the release of half the remaining Israeli captives—10 alive and the remains of 18 confirmed dead—in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Egyptian sources said Gaza’s security conditions make a single large release impossible.
Since October, mediation led by Egypt, Qatar, and the US has sought to end Israel’s war, which has killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians and wounded over 153,000, most of them women and children.
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