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More déjà vu.
‘Very different messages’: Hamas hasn’t agreed to deal on the table, source says
A US official has told Al Jazeera – with regard to the acceptance of some sort of agreement by Hamas – that the exact opposite is true. The source described Hamas’s claims as “inaccurate”.
Instead, the source says, US envoy Steve Witkoff is on record as saying Hamas has not agreed to the proposal on the table, and what he’s seen from the Palestinian group is “disappointing and completely unacceptable”.
What we understand Israel has agreed to, according to the US side, is that it will agree to a temporary ceasefire deal that will allow for half the living and half the deceased captives to be returned. That agreement is what will lead to a diplomatic path forward for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The recommendation of the US envoy is Hamas “should take that deal” that has been agreed to by Israel. So we’re hearing very different messages coming out.
While Israel says they haven't agreed to any deal...
Israelis and Americans want Hamas to undergo ‘execution’
Tamer Qarmout, a professor from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says the Israelis want to see “a humiliating surrender” by Hamas. The group that governs Gaza is under “huge pressure” with Palestinians suffering terribly with the aid blockade and relentless attacks, he noted.
“Hamas at the same time wants a dignified exit, not a dignified suicide, and this is what makes it so complicated,” Qarmout said of truce negotiations.
The Israelis and Americans want Hamas to undergo a “death execution and I don’t see the logic behind it”, he told Al Jazeera. “The Israelis see this as a golden opportunity to finish this genocide, to cleanse the people, and finish the headache they call Gaza.”
On a possible ceasefire, Qarmout added: “In my opinion, if there’s anything serious to happen, it has to come from the Americans. If the Americans realise Netanyahu is a loser … then I think you’ll see an immediate change by the Israeli government.”
Israel’s pressure point on Hamas: ‘Incinerate Palestinian families'
I’m keen to think there’s a game being played, but you also get the sense that everyone is lost.
The Americans are trying to reach a deal. The deal might be somewhat acceptable to the Palestinians, to Hamas, but not to Israel, because Israel is trying to continue the war.
And I think most of these deals have failed on one important point: Israel does not want to stop the war and Hamas demands that any deal should have a clause that speaks of ending the war.
And this is all, if you’ll remember, a violation of a deal that was already signed. It was an accord that was agreed to under the administration of former US President Joe Biden. There was a UN Security Council resolution that actually talked about three phases. We finished with the first phase, then were supposed to enter the second phase and continue talking in the second phase without resuming the war.
So we are now living in the realm of Israeli violations of an already-existing accord, and they are trying to work out something whereby they force Hamas’s hand into accepting something that does not end the war.
And how do they force Hamas’s hand? By burning Palestinian families. So the point of pressure on Hamas is they continue to bomb every day, kill 100 people or so every day, and now incinerate Palestinian families in order for Hamas to accept a deal.
