Hamas says still studying Gaza ceasefire proposal, but insists on long-term ceasefire: AP report

AP , Friday 2 Feb 2024

Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed ceasefire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components.

Osama Hamdan
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan speaks during a rally organized by Lebanon s militant Hezbollah group to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, May 17, 2021. AP

Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed ceasefire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the group remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent ceasefire.

Hamdan also said the group seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences.

He mentioned two by name, including Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian uprising leader seen as a unifying figure.

Hamdan's comments on the prisoners were the most detailed demands yet to be raised by the group in public.

The insistence on large-scale prisoner releases and an end to the fighting in Gaza put the group at odds with the multi-stage proposal that officials from Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the United States put forth this week. The proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire.

“There is no way that this will be acceptable by the resistance,” Hamdan told Lebanon’s LBC TV on Friday, referring to proposed successive pauses in fighting.

Israeli leaders have said they will keep fighting until Hamas is crushed, even while agreeing to long pauses that are accompanied by the release of captives.

Since Israel's aggression on Gaza began on 7 October, more than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

The conflict has also left vast swaths of the besieged tiny coastal enclave levelled, displaced 85 percent of its population, and pushed a quarter of residents to starvation.

In his remarks, Hamdan also said Hamas wants to free Palestinian prisoners of all factions — not just those affiliated with the group.

In addition to Barghouti, he named Ahmed Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction.

The prisoner release is a “national cause, not only for Hamas,” he said.

Both Barghouti and Saadat were convicted of involvement in fatal attacks during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation a generation ago.

As the war nears the four-month mark, fighting continued in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said Friday that its efforts focused on fighters, weapons and infrastructure in the city, a key target of Israel's ground offensive in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas have fled south to the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, which the United Nations said on Friday is becoming a “pressure cooker of despair."

"We fear for what comes next," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “It's like every week we think, you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go figure. It gets worse.”

Hamdan's remarks reaffirmed statements from other Hamas officials, including the group's top political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who said Tuesday that the group was studying the terms but remained committed to seeking the “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza and steps toward a long-term ceasefire.

Another Hamas official said Friday that the group would answer “very soon” and ask for several unspecified changes. He refused to give any details on what they were seeking or how many hostages would be released in return for how many prisoners.

The multi-stage proposal on the table was drafted by officials from the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. Qatar and Egypt have been serving as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

A senior Egyptian official familiar with the discussions on Friday said Hamas had sent positive signals about the proposal.

The Egyptian official and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity because the indirect talks are still ongoing.

The proposal, according to the Egyptian official, includes an initial cease-fire of six to eight weeks during which Hamas would release elderly hostages, women and children in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Throughout that phase, negotiations would continue on prolonging the ceasefire and releasing more prisoners and hostages. Israel would allow the number of aid trucks to enter Gaza would increase to up to 300 daily — from a few dozen currently — and let displaced Gaza residents gradually return to their homes in the north, according to the proposal.

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