On Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caved to President Donald Trump’s wishes and revealed to families of the Israeli hostages that he will honor a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza. Now Washington is negotiating the terms of the ceasefire with Hamas.
“Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that he accepted the new cease-fire proposal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. Hamas said it was looking over the proposal,” Haaretz said Wednesday.
According to the White House on Thursday, discussions with Hamas regarding the proposal are ongoing, as of the publication of this article.
WWIII UPDATE: Netanyahu Backs Off & Accepts Trump’s Gaza Ceasefire Deal Despite Israel's Long-Term Plan To Take Down Iran Which Would Trigger Worldwide Nuclear War pic.twitter.com/S2oxev9815
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“Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“We are studying Witkoff’s proposal responsibly, in a way that serves the interests of our people, provides relief, and achieves a permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” Hamas said in a statement Thursday.
One of the issues Hamas currently has with the proposal is that it favors Israel over Palestine, according to Hamas.
“A source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas feels deceived by the U.S. administration, believing it has been ‘screwed over’ with a pro-Israel proposal that does not guarantee an end to the war,” The Jerusalem Post said Thursday. “The proposal also requires all hostages to be returned to Israel within a week, leaving Hamas without further leverage.”
Hamas is also reportedly seeking a proposal that includes American guarantees that the temporary ceasefire will lead to a permanent one, and that Israel will not be able to break the ceasefire if negotiations continue past the temporary period, as with what happened in March.
Trump’s proposal seeks a long term solution to a long term problem – Israeli / Palestinian relations. It does so in phases, beginning with solving smaller, more current issues first.
“A new proposal brokered by U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff includes the release of 10 living hostages and the return of 18 bodies held in Gaza, in two phases over the course of a week, in exchange for a 60-day cease-fire, an Israeli official said Thursday,” Haaretz said Thursday. “The Witkoff cease-fire proposal seems to be an interim plan depending on other developments and the negotiations during the partial cease-fire period. A permanent ceasefire (historically applied at end of a war) would mean an endgame plan to this Israeli-Palestinian conflict now into its sixth decade.”
On Monday a Palestinian official said that Hamas had agreed to a proposal, yet soon thereafter an Israeli official denied that the proposal Hamas claimed to agree to was genuine and that no Israeli government could accept it. Witkoff stated that Hamas misrepresented the proposal and the group’s position was “disappointing and unacceptable.”