US plan calls for a truce extension until at least April 20
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a lengthy statement saying it has agreed to implement the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s idea of a ceasefire extension.
What it will mean is that the ceasefire, the pause in the fighting, will go through for the entire month of Ramadan, which is the entire month of March, and also through the Jewish Passover, which begins in mid-April and ends on April 20.
This also stipulates that half of the captives inside of Gaza would be released on the first day.
It’s worth mentioning that 59 captives are still being held in Gaza, half of whom are alive and half of whom have been confirmed deceased by Israeli forces.
It’s still unclear exactly what’s next, because Israel says that they’re ready to continue the fighting at any time.
But the Americans say that more time is needed to negotiate phase two of this deal, so half of the captives would be released in the meantime and then the other half would be released if they can come to a conclusion on the end of the war.
Of course, it is [still early morning here], so there hasn’t been any comment from Hamas just yet.
What does US-backed plan propose?
Netanyahu’s office said the plan was put forward by US President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
According to its statement:
- The proposal calls for the release of half of the captives, both alive and dead, on the first day of the deal.
- And at the end, if an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, the remaining captives will be released.
- Witkoff proposed the outline for extending the ceasefire after he was impressed that at this stage, there was no possibility of bridging the position of the parties to end the war, and that additional time was needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire.
- If Hamas agrees to the outline, Israel will immediately enter into negotiations on all the details of Witkoff’s plan.
US is backing Israeli efforts to extend phase one
Trump is on the record as stating repeatedly that the ceasefire is in Israel’s hands.
He has sent the signal that there will be no pressure from the US in terms of moving from phase one to phase two, saying repeatedly that that is up to Israel.
So in terms of any pressure from the US for Israel to move forward on this publicly, at least, there is none.
The fact that Witkoff would appear, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, to have a plan on the table, whether this constitutes pressure, that’s an open question.
What Witkoff’s plan does appear to provide for is an extension of phase one and not allowing the movement to proceed into phase two, at which stage there would be discussions about phase three, which Israel is deeply reluctant to get into because that involves the governance of Gaza and the rebuilding of it.
So, it does appear to be as though from the US, at least, there is an agreement with Israel to get an extension of the first phase rather than move forward.
All the efforts from the US and from Steve
US’s latest proposal shows it cannot be an impartial mediator
Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, says the US has put forth a proposal that favours Israel.
“This is typical,” he told Al Jazeera from the US city of San Francisco.
“Hamas and Israel will agree to something. Then Israel will try to revise it in their favour and then the US will put forward a new proposal that is in Israel’s favour and then the US will blame Hamas for not accepting that proposal,” he said.
“We have seen this pattern from the beginning of the conflict. And even for that matter, we’ve seen this pattern in Israel’s negotiations with other Arab parties for decades,” Zunes added.
“This goes back to the US being the chief mediator in the conflict and the chief military, economic and financial supporter of the more powerful of the two parties in the conflict.”
Israel again warns Hamas of a return to war
Here’s more from the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.
“According to the agreement, Israel can return to fighting after the 42nd day if it feels that the negotiations are ineffective,” it said. “This clause was supported by a side letter from the previous US administration and has also received the support of the Trump administration.”
It also claimed it has fully complied with the ceasefire deal and accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the truce.
However, Israel has continued to launch attacks on Gaza despite the truce, killing some 100 Palestinians. It was also Israel that refused to begin talks on the second phase of the deal, which were supposed to begin 16 days into phase one.
UN officials meanwhile say Israel has restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, including mobile homes and heavy equipment, in violation of the truce deal.
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