Both Israel and Hamas said over the weekend that efforts to make new ceasefire efforts in Gaza are underway, with less than two weeks of temporary truce rupture and Israeli recovery of air and ground movements against militant groups in the enclave.
Hamas said on Saturday it had accepted a proposal for a new ceasefire that would allow Gaza to release some hostages. Israel also said it was also a proposal received through third-party mediators and responded with opposition coordinated with the United States.
“Military pressure is working,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Neither party released details about the proposal or counterclaim, but officials to the speech officials said they had responded extensively to previous proposals in recent weeks. While there is no sign of a breakthrough coming soon, public statements show that after weeks of fruitless negotiations, deals were made even as the war continued.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said it had recovered the bodies of eight emergency medical technicians, five civil defense personnel and a UN employee in Rafa, southern Gaza. The medical group said it had lost contact with nine crew members after the Israeli forces were fired directly from Israeli forces. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What does Hamas say?
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and negotiator, said in a speech Saturday that his group had received a proposal from Egypt and Kathari mediators two days ago to open fires for a new ceasefire, adding that Hamas “responsively responded to it and approved it.”
He did not elaborate on the terms, but recent negotiations, including our unusual direct negotiations with Hamas officials, are committed to ensuring the release of Edan Alexander, the only Israeli American hostage still considered alive, and the bodies of four other Israeli Americans.
For Israel, it is a lifeless person, which calls for the release of 10 or 11 living hostages to extend the temporary ceasefire for a seven-week period, based on its earlier proposal, attributed to White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
What does Israel say?
Mr. Antanyahu said after speaking on Saturday that he had conducted a series of consultations on Friday after receiving the proposal, according to a statement from his office. The statement added that a few hours ago, Israel had sent a counter-title to the mediator.
The official, who discussed elaborate diplomacy under the condition of anonymity, said Israel is still seeking to release 10 living hostages to restore the ceasefire, and Egypt is behind the latest proposal.
According to Israel, there are still as many as 24 hostages living in Gaza and the remains of 35 other people. They were among about 250 captured people in October 2023 during the deadly Hamas-led Israeli attack, which sparked the war.
What is the main point?
In addition to agreeing to the release of hostages and the number of Palestinian prisoners, any new ceasefire is likely to be elusive as long as the two sides remain inconsistent on more fundamental issues, including irreconcilable demands for the future of Gaza.
Mr. Al-Hayya said Hamas was committed to a deal that would guarantee a permanent ceasefire and a complete evacuation of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, a general clause that both sides have agreed to expand the truce that would eventually collapse.
“We don’t want anything new,” Al-Hayya said Saturday. “We want to respect the signed content, the guarantees of the guarantor and the content approved by the international community.”
Israeli conditions ended Hamas's arms stretched out and abandoned control of Gaza. Mr. Al-Hayya said that as long as Israel occupied Palestinian land, the organization's “weapons of resistance” were the “red lines”.
What has changed?
Israel and Hamas each blamed each other for the collapse of the first phase of the ceasefire that took effect in mid-January.
But both are now under pressure to renew the truce.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which failed to distinguish civilians from combatants, more than 50,000 Gaza people have been killed in the war so far, and most of the enclaves are in ruins.
After that, protests broke out in Hamas in Gaza. A militant in the protest movement said he was worried that Hamas might accept another temporary ceasefire so that its security forces could hide and fight protesters without fear of being attacked by Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu is also under domestic pressure. Many Israelis accused him of failing to prioritize hostages and extending the war in Gaza to bring the far-right members of his management coalition to aboard the ship to ensure his political survival.
“We are committed to bringing hostages home,” Netanyahu said on Sunday, adding: “The combination of military pressure and diplomatic pressure is the only thing that brings hostages back.”
