Hamas rejects proposed cease-fire plan that drew hope deal is near as Netanyahu digs in

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Hamas leaders on Sunday rejected a proposed cease-fire agreement hammered out in talks last week that had drawn optimism from U.S., Egypt and Qatar mediators suggesting a deal could be close.

"After being briefed by the mediators about what happened in the last round of talks in Doha, we once again came to the conclusion that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement," Hamas said in a statement. The statement accused the Israeli prime minister of "setting new conditions and demands with the aim of undermining the mediators' efforts and prolonging the war."

The Biden administration is trying to bridge gaps between Israeli and Hamas on control of border crossings, the number and identity of Israeli hostages and security prisoners that would be freed and future governance of the embattled enclave. On Friday, President Joe Biden said the parties were "closer than we've ever been" to an agreement.

Netanyahu has consistently demanded that the remnants of the battered Hamas militant group play no role in the future of Gaza, a demand oft-rejected by Hamas. Any movement by Netanyahu away from that stand would jeopardize his fragile alliance with Israel's far-right and could threaten his hold on the prime minister's office.

The Hamas statement said the new proposal reflects Netanyahu's conditions rejecting a permanent cease-fire and a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also set new conditions in the prisoner exchange plan, the statement said.

Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu warned that Israel was standing firm on some of its demands.

"We are negotiating, not giving and giving," Netanyahu said in a social media post.

Family and friends of Romi Gonen, a hostage kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack and still being held in Gaza, celebrate what they call her "vibrant spirit" to mark her 24th birthday in Tel Aviv on Aug. 18, 2024.
Family and friends of Romi Gonen, a hostage kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack and still being held in Gaza, celebrate what they call her "vibrant spirit" to mark her 24th birthday in Tel Aviv on Aug. 18, 2024.

Developments:

∎ Netanyahu blamed Hamas for refusing to negotiate, noting that it did not send a representative to Doha. International pressure for a deal should be directed at Hamas, not at the Israeli government, he said.

∎ The prime minister warned Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which have pledged to respond to recent assassinations in Tehran and Beirut, that Israel is prepared for every threat and will "extract a very heavy price from any enemy that dares to attack us."

Blinken pitching deal aimed at truce

Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Sunday armed with a "bridging proposal" aimed at establishing a cease-fire in Gaza, securing the release of all hostages, ensuring humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza and creating the conditions for broader regional stability.

The Times of Israel, citing officials it said was familiar with the talks, said the proposal does not provide for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Gaza-Egypt border or a path to fully preventing the return of armed Hamas forces in Gaza, two key issues Netanyahu has demanded. Israel's Channel 12 reported that Hamas has told negotiators it would not agree to a deal that includes those demands.

Blinken also will underscore the critical need for all parties in the region to avoid escalation or any other actions that could undermine the ability to finalize an agreement, his office said in a statement.

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Hamas says new Gaza proposal too close to Israel's demands

The Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday that a new proposal meant to bridge the gaps between Israel and the Islamist armed group over a Gaza ceasefire were too close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent positions.

Hamas' statement came only hours after U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel in a bid to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, dimming hopes for an imminent breakthrough in negotiations.

Hamas received the new proposal from mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, following a two-day round of talks in Doha.

It said that the new proposal was aligned with Netanyahu, who refuses to end the war and withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, including from the border with Egypt, two conditions the group sees as the basis for any agreement.

"We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators' efforts, delaying the agreement, and for the lives of his prisoners who are exposed to the same danger as our people due to his ongoing aggression and systematic targeting of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip," said Hamas.

"We call on the mediators to assume their responsibilities and compel the occupation to implement what was agreed upon," Hamas said, adding that it was fully committed to the previous July proposal.

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Israel, Hamas Accuse Each Other of Imperiling a Cease-Fire Deal

Israel and Hamas blamed each other for impeding a cease-fire and hostage deal as the top US diplomat arrived in Tel Aviv to press for an agreement.

Mediators say the current round of negotiations have brought the two sides closest to an official pause in fighting in months. But objections from both sides on Sunday raised the chances of renewed stalemate.

“We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of his cabinet meeting. “There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on. We know how to distinguish between the two very well.”

Hamas released a statement shortly afterward detailing what it said were Israel’s new demands that the militant group said would prevent a deal.

“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible,” the statement read.

While in Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to meet with Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a senior State Department official. Blinken, who has made nine trips to the region since the conflict erupted, heads to Egypt on Tuesday.

During high-level negotiations at a two-day summit last week in Doha, Israel and the US worked to narrow gaps with Egyptian and Qatari officials serving as intermediaries for Hamas. Talks are set to resume in Cairo later this week, though no official date has been set.

The war in the Palestinian enclave broke out after Hamas fighters swarmed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people. Israel responded with an air and ground assault and more than 40,000 people have died, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza.

US officials have said efforts to reach an agreement on ending the conflict are nearing the final stages and Israeli negotiators over the weekend “expressed to the prime minister cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress on the deal, in accordance with the updated American proposal,” according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

The proposal resembles a previous three-phase plan unveiled in May by US President Joe Biden, calling for a suspension of hostilities, the swap of hostages for prisoners, some withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of Palestinian civilians to return to the northern Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu has previously insisted that the Israeli army remain stationed along the strategic Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors in Gaza to prevent arms smuggling from Egypt and block Hamas gunmen from returning to northern Gaza alongside civilians. Another sticking point in the talks has been the number of Israeli hostages who would be freed in the first round of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In a possible signal of flexibility, the Netzarim route, which bisects Gaza, went unmentioned in a statement Netanyahu issued after Blinken’s arrival. But Hamas suggested in its statement that in fact Israel continues to insist on a military presence at Netzarim and has placed “new conditions” on an exchange of hostages for prisoners.

On Saturday, two Israeli army reservists were killed in a bomb and gun ambush on the Netzarim route, the Israel Defense Forces said. Since the first Gaza ground incursion in October, the IDF has lost 332 personnel in action in the Palestinian enclave and on other fronts.

In the earlier statement Sunday, Netanyahu accused Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union — of being “completely obstinate.” He said international pressure should be directed at Hamas and its key commander, Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding in Gaza.

Israel sent an advance “working team” to Cairo on Sunday to provide the logistical framework for the follow-up principals’ meeting, according to a government official who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

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