Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Hamas has agreed to the ceasefire proposal presented by the United States, but remains opposed to what the group argues are “new conditions” added by Israel, according to a statement shared with Newsweek.
The statement, attributed to senior Hamas official and spokesperson Basem Naim, recounted the Islamic Palestinian movement’s initial positive reaction to a three-phase plan first outlined by President Joe Biden on May 31. However, Naim argued Israel instead sought to double down on its 10-month war effort in Gaza and impose new demands, leading to another potential impasse in talks that U.S. officials claimed saw a breakthrough earlier on Monday.
The conflict began with a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, that Israeli officials estimate left about 1,200 people dead and around 240 more taken hostage, around half of whom are believed to remain in captivity. The Gaza Health Ministry has estimated that approximately 40,000 have been killed in the densely populated territory throughout the war that ensued.
Following what he described as “a very constructive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the prime minister had “confirmed” to him “that Israel supports the bridging proposal” put forth by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt in a bid to push through the deadlocked negotiations. Blinken said that “the next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes.'”
But conflicting accounts have emerged of the proposal, which Naim noted had been promoted by the White House as “essentially an Israeli proposal.” The plan first described by Biden involved a six-week ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from populated areas of Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza and an exchange of a number of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase constituted further detainee swaps, a lasting ceasefire and the total withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. Finally, the bodies of the deceased would be exchanged and a reconstruction plan for Gaza would commence.
Naim said in his statement that Hamas “welcomed” Biden’s announcement on May 31, along with a subsequent United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolution endorsing it on June 11, and that the group “confirmed its readiness for immediate implementation and submitted its approval of the mediators’ proposal on July 2.”
However, he accused Netanyahu of deliberately disrupting the process by conducting new attacks and seeking additional measures.
Kevin Mohatt/PoolAP
“What was Netanyahu’s response to all these initiatives and proposals? More massacres and killings (such as the Mawasi massacre, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and the massacre at Al-Tabin School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza),” Naim said in the statement, “along with new conditions for negotiations.”
According to Naim, the new conditions include Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the Rafah crossing and Philadelphi corridor that lie between Gaza and Egypt and the IDF-established Netzarim route between north and south Gaza, further inspections on displaced persons crossing the Netzarim route, alterations to the prisoner swaps, new conditions to the passage of humanitarian assistance and a lack of commitment to negotiations bridging the first and second phases of the proposal.
Naim also alleged that Israel had demanded “a written commitment from the Americans allowing the resumption of hostilities if so decided.”
Netanyahu and his administration have denied adding new conditions that go beyond the initial parameters of the U.S. proposal, but they have previously affirmed that the war would continue until all hostages were released and Hamas was decisively defeated.
In a statement shared with Newsweek on Friday, as a new round of ceasefire talks played out in the Qatari capital of Doha, Netanyahu’s office said that “Israel appreciates the efforts of the United States and the mediators to dissuade Hamas from its refusal to agree to a deal for the release of the hostages.”
The statement continued: “Israel’s core principles are well known to the mediators and to the United States, and Israel hopes that their pressure will lead Hamas to accept the May 27 principles, in order for the details of the agreement to be implemented.”
An earlier statement provided last week, days prior to the latest negotiations, asserted that a letter sent by Netanyahu on July 27 “does not introduce extra conditions and certainly does not contradict or undermine the May 27 proposal.” Netanyahu’s office asserted that, “in fact, Hamas is the one that demanded 29 changes to the May 27 proposal, something the Prime Minister refused to do.”
According to the statement from the prime minister’s office, the letter called for “an agreed upon mechanism” concerning the Netzarim crossing, stipulated that “all the living hostages in the relevant category should be released” in response to a section of the May 27 proposal that says “a specific number of hostages will be released ‘living or dead'” and specified that Israel “will have a veto over a certain number of released prisoners and can designate that at least a certain number of prisoners will be released abroad.”
The letter, according to Netanyahu’s office, “includes essential clarifications to help implement the May 27 proposal.”
After the latest negotiations took place late last week, the Biden administration offered a positive reaction Friday, suggesting a deal could be concluded in the coming week. Hamas officials, however, expressed their skepticism to Newsweek, suggesting Israel had remained adamant on the “new conditions” and that the U.S. was misrepresenting the nature of the talks to satisfy conditions at home in the leadup to the election in November and ease regional tensions amid Iran’s looming threats to strike back at Israel over the unclaimed killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
In video remarks released Monday, Netanyahu described having “a good and important meeting” with Blinken and expressed his appreciation for “the efforts that the U.S. is making in regional defense against the Iranian axis.”
“I also greatly appreciate the understanding that the United States has shown for our vital security interests as part of our joint efforts to bring about the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “I would like to emphasize: The efforts to release a maximum number of living hostages – already in the first stage of the deal.”
As for Naim, he called on the U.S. and other nations to immediately move forward on the deal as it was originally outlined.
“The U.S. administration and the international community must put an end to this recklessness,” Naim said. “And pressure Netanyahu and his fascist government to halt the aggression and sign the ceasefire agreement.”