David Israel
29 Iyyar 5784 – June 6, 2024
According to Saudi news outlet Asharq Al Awsat, citing sources in Hamas, the terrorist group on Thursday morning expressed great pessimism regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
For all intents and purposes, Hamas has rejected President Joe Biden’s offer from last Friday – which he and administration officials insisted was the same as Israel’s.
Hamas believes that Israel’s proposal differs from the outline presented by Biden last Friday, especially when it comes to the transition between phase one and phase two of the deal.
Asharq Al Awsat obtained an internal document that was delivered Thursday to representatives of the terrorist factions in Gaza, which presents the current situation, Hamas stated that from the talks held with the mediating countries it became clear that the Israeli proposal is not in line with the Biden outline.
Hamas stressed to the factions that Israel is only interested in implementing the first phase of the deal – the release civilian women, children and adult hostages, but avoids a commitment to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and end the war.
Hamas clarified – as many Israeli pundits on the right pointed out – that the outline presented by Biden is largely in line with the demands made by Hamas a month ago, but there is a gap between the document the Americans submitted to the negotiating team which they claimed represented Israel’s stand, and the real Israeli proposal. Hamas is troubled by the appearance that Israel wishes to keep an open option for the renewal of the war.
In the talks that took place recently in Doha, Qatar, which included CIA chief William Burns, Hamas representatives asked Qatar and Egypt to find out if the Biden outline is the same as Israel’s, or a White House interpretation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also suggested Biden’s presentation of his position was inaccurate.
This is why Hamas demanded earlier that the US, Egypt, and Qatar sign on as guarantors who would be committed to force Israel to live up to Biden’s “Israeli” proposal.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/hamas-rejects-bidens-deal-claims-gaps-between-his-and-israels-proposals/2024/06/06/.
About The Author
