2024-01-23 00:55:01
Israel proposed that senior Hamas leaders leave the Gaza Strip as part of a broader ceasefire agreement in the Strip, CNN reported, citing officials familiar with the ongoing international discussions.
The extraordinary proposal comes as Israel struggles to achieve its stated goal of completely destroying Hamas.
The network indicates that Israel has failed, despite almost four months of war, to arrest or kill any of Hamas’s senior leaders in Gaza, and has left about 70% of Hamas’ fighting force intact, according to Israel’s own estimates, the network says.
CNN revealed that Israel’s proposal to leave Hamas leaders was discussed as part of broader ceasefire negotiations at least twice in recent weeks. Once last month in Warsaw by Israel’s intelligence chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, and then again this month in Doha with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to one official familiar with the discussions.
Earlier Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had presented an initiative that he did not specify, denying that Hamas had presented any initiative.
A statement issued by Netanyahu’s office quoted him saying to a group of representatives of the hostages’ families, after some relatives stormed a committee meeting in the Israeli Knesset to demand the release of their relatives, “There is no serious proposal from Hamas. This (prediction) is incorrect.”
He added, “I say this very clearly because there are many incorrect statements that certainly hurt you.”
He said, “On the contrary, there is an initiative on our part, the details of which I will not go into.”
Axios quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel presented Hamas, through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, with a proposal that includes a cessation of fighting for a period of up to two months, as part of a multi-stage agreement that includes the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza.
More than 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza. Israeli officials say dozens of hostages were killed on October 7 or in the weeks that followed.
Although the proposal does not include an agreement to end the war, it represents the longest ceasefire period that Israel has offered to Hamas since the beginning of the war, according to the website.
Israeli officials said they were waiting for Hamas’ response, but stressed that they were cautiously optimistic about the ability to make progress in the coming days.
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