DAccording to a media report, Jihia al-Sinwar, the leader of Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has three more demands in the ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal.
A source close to the Hamas leader told Israel's Channel 12 television on Thursday evening that he is demanding a guaranteed end to the war. Israel has so far denied this. Meanwhile, the US government accuses radical Islamists of intercepting humanitarian aid.
So the Hamas leader's further demands to turn Palestinian prisoners into Israeli hostages should be a concern. Sinwar also made a request for more details on the renovation materials.
like a newspaper”The Times of Israel“Thursday evening, Israel's leadership is expected to reject the proposed deal by Hamas. The paper cited a government official as its source. Earlier, the Israeli war cabinet met at military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the report said. It discussed launching a controversial ground offensive in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
Relatives of hostages and their supporters protest in front of the Ministry of Defense
Source: dpa/Ilia Yefimovich
Meanwhile, dozens of family members of the Israeli hostages and their supporters protested outside, according to the newspaper, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal to free the hostages in Gaza – whatever the cost.
An agreement now rests on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Al-Sinwar, whose future is at stake in the war and whose calculations leave little room for compromise, the analysis said.The Wall Street Journal“. Netanyahu's political survival depends on his far-right allies. They recently threatened to end the government if a hostage deal proposed by mediators in Cairo is implemented and an operation in Rafah is halted.
Al-Sinwar, on the other hand, believes there is no need to make a deal, the newspaper quoted an expert as saying. According to Arab mediators, the Hamas leader believes he has already won the war, regardless of whether he survives or not. Because he brought the suffering of the Palestinians and the conflict with Israel to the center of world attention.
Hamas demands a vision
According to a Channel 12 source, Sinwar is demanding a written commitment from Israel for an “unconditional end to hostilities,” thus guaranteeing war. Israel has so far denied this.
According to the broadcaster, the Hamas leader also demands that Israel not prevent the return of Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank. Israel wants to send those serving life sentences to the Gaza Strip or abroad under the latest draft deal. Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages abducted from Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip wants Israel to deliver unwanted goods to the coastal enclave for reconstruction. The Israeli broadcaster speculated that Shinwar wanted to ensure that Hamas could rebuild its tunnels and other military infrastructure.
According to the report, there is a perception in Israel that Hamas will not give a clear negative response to the proposal due to international pressure. US-backed Egyptian mediators are currently trying to resolve the differences.
The Islamist militant group Hamas had earlier announced it would send another delegation to Egypt to finalize ongoing backdoor negotiations with Israel on a hostage-release deal and ceasefire. A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo within the next two days to continue talks, according to Al-Kahira News, an Egyptian state-affiliated television channel.
On Thursday, it was announced that for the first time, Hamas had withheld aid supplies to the Gaza Strip. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in Washington that it was a Jordanian ship that had been brought to the coast through the newly opened Erez border crossing.
“It was then picked up by a humanitarian organization for distribution in Gaza, and that aid was intercepted and diverted by Hamas on the ground in Gaza,” Miller said. According to his understanding, the items have now been released and handed back to the humanitarian organization. “But that doesn't change the fact that this is an unacceptable practice.”
The situation in the Gaza Strip
Source: OpenStreetMap; Infographic World
Miller said it was the first major case of Hamas diverting aid. He warned the group that such actions would affect the delivery of aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza in general and called for it not to happen again.
The humanitarian situation in the sealed off Gaza Strip is catastrophic. People there rely on emergency supplies of food and medicine. Following international pressure, particularly from the United States, Israel opened the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza on Wednesday.
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