Hamas ‘studying’ Israeli ceasefire proposal, demand to disarm ‘red line’
Al Jazeera :
Negotiations for a renewed ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza appear to be at an impasse after Israel issued new demands for Hamas to disarm in its latest proposal that offers only a temporary halt to attacks on the Palestinian territory, where the death toll is quickly approaching at least 51,000.
Israel issued its latest proposal to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Monday, offering a 45-day temporary ceasefire in exchange for Hamas releasing 11 Israeli captives still held in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement that it was reviewing the latest Israeli proposal and would respond as “soon as possible”.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera prior to the release of the official statement that Hamas would not accept any demand to disarm, saying that “as long as there is an occupation, the resistance will continue”.
“The request to disarm Hamas is not even acceptable to hear. This is not just a red line, it is a million red lines,” Abu Zuhri said. “Everyone should understand that this is a dream – daydreaming. It cannot be achieved.”
Hamas has insisted that Israel commit to ending the war and remove its forces from Gaza. In return, it has offered to hand over all remaining captives “in one batch”.
Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh said the demand that Hamas disarm was likely a non-starter after Israel publicly outlined a plan to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza.
“While Palestinians are listening to Israel talking about ethnically cleansing the enclave of its Palestinian population, forming a department in the Ministry of Defence to achieve that goal, it is difficult to see any Palestinian group talking about laying down arms in the absence of any political horizon,” Odeh said.
“So for now, Hamas is saying the arms, the issue of disarming, is a red line, and there is no way to talk about that without talking about an end to the war.”
The latest round of talks held in Cairo on Monday ended with no apparent movement towards permanently ending the war, which has escalated since Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza on March 18 following a deal that was reached with Hamas in late January.
Since restarting the war, Israel has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians according to Gaza health authorities. Gaza’s Ministry of Health says at least 50,983 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 116,274 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of people have again been displaced since Israel resumed its campaign as well as imposed a total blockade on Gaza, forcing the territory into a state of siege and starvation.