Last Sunday, it was reported that Hamas responded to the mediators’ proposal by indicating a willingness to release only around 20 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire. This was about half of the number of hostages originally planned, according to an Israeli official. The official criticized Hamas for what he described as “ridiculous excuses” for reducing the number of abductees they were willing to release in the first phase of the deal, such as claiming that some of the abductees were not alive or in their hands.
The Israeli official also mentioned that Hamas was demanding higher “keys,” or the release of more Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli abductee, and had increased their demand for the release of world prisoners. Hamas had divided the agreement into several phases and linked them together, conditioning the implementation of phase one on international guarantees to end the war in phase two. Additionally, Hamas demanded the withdrawal of IDF forces from large areas in the Gaza Strip and full freedom of movement for Palestinians in the region.
The Israeli official criticized Hamas for altering the proposal from the ground up, doubling and tripling their demands. He concluded that Hamas was dragging its feet, not interested in a settlement or ceasefire, and hoping for escalation. This behavior indicated that Hamas was not serious about reaching an agreement.
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