Hamas considering US ‘bridge’ proposal, even as Israel escalates attacks: Report
An unnamed official from the Palestinian group told the Reuters news agency it was still considering the US-backed “bridge” proposal in order to restore the Gaza ceasefire, even as Israel has launched a renewed ground invasion of the besieged enclave.
The proposal, tabled by US President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, aims to restore the Gaza ceasefire and extend it into April in order to allow time to negotiate a permanent cessation of fighting.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Palestinian official also said Egypt has put forward a similar bridging proposal, but Hamas is yet to respond. The official declined to offer more details.
Close to 600 Palestinians, including at least 200 children, have been killed since Israel renewed its assault on the Palestinian enclave on Tuesday.
Trump envoy Witkoff vague on proposed Gaza rebuilding plan
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has given a long interview to right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson where they spoke at length about Gaza and the state of ceasefire negotiations.
Here is some of what was said:
- Witkoff was vague on Trump’s plan for Gaza, saying the priority was achieving “stability in Gaza” and that “stability in Gaza could mean some people come back. It could mean some people don’t come back.”
- Witkoff also offered thoughts on a two-state solution and Gaza reconstruction saying: “What ‘two-state’ to me means is, ‘how do we have a better living prescription for Palestinians who are living in Gaza?’ Let’s get to that place. But it’s not just about housing. Maybe it’s about AI coming there. Maybe it’s about hyperscale data centres being seeded into that area, because we need to have that, and these people can now take advantage, and we can create jobs for them there … We can’t rebuild Gaza and it be based on a welfare system. We have to give people prospects, economic and financial prospects.”
Witkoff randomly babbling, yeah put a traumatized population to work in hyperscale AI data centers, wtf.
Witkoff warns Israel’s war on Gaza prompting instability in Arab world
- Hamas wants “to stay there till the end of time and they want to rule Gaza” but that would be “unacceptable” to the Trump administration, Witkoff said.
- The Trump administration wants the group to demilitarise, with Witkoff saying that were Hamas to agree, they could “stay there a little bit, be involved politically”. But he said the US “can’t have a terrorist organisation running, running Gaza, because that won’t be acceptable to Israel”.
- Hamas was not “ideologically intractable” and could be negotiated with, Witkoff also said, and confirmed he was not negotiating directly with representatives from the group and was relying on Qatar as an intermediary.
- Witkoff said he did not believe Israel wants to occupy Gaza.
- Egypt was a potential “flash point” as anger at Israel’s campaign in Gaza was widespread among populations in neighbouring Arab countries, Witkoff said, saying the threat of regional instability meant “we’ve got to solve Gaza”.
Hamas has already offered to step down, hold elections etc
Hamas reportedly agrees to step down from governing Gaza in next phase
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-842236
It's Israel (and the US) that don't want to go to phase 2 of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas is not going to demilitarize as long as the occupation continues though.
Responding to Witkoff, Hamas vows no demilitarization ‘as long as the occupation exists’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/responding-to-witkoff-hamas-vows-no-demilitarization-as-long-as-the-occupation-exists/
“When we talk about the weapons of the resistance, they are the weapons of the Palestinian people. Therefore, these weapons are carried by Palestinians to resist the occupation, as guaranteed by international laws and conventions,” adds Badran.
Witkoff is right that Israel doesn't want to occupy Gaza, they want to annex it, like the Westbank. Just got to get the people to leave first.
And yes Witkoff, you're doing a stellar job at destabilizing the ME.
