Main events on July 4th
- Hamas said it responded “positively” to a 60-day ceasefire proposal backed by the US, which would see the release of 10 live captives held in Gaza and 18 deceased, in exchange for Israel allowing aid into the enclave and stopping offensive military operations.
- The Israeli military said it has “operational control” more than 65 percent of Gaza as it killed dozens more Palestinians, including more starving aid seekers at sites run by the heavily criticised Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
- The Israeli army also confirmed it was behind the assassination of a man in Beirut on Thursday, describing him as a “terrorist” who smuggled weapons for Iran’s Quds Force.
- The United Kingdom’s Royal Court of Justice rejected Palestine Action’s appeal to postpone government proscription, meaning the activist movement is now designated a “terrorist” group for rejecting Israel’s war on Gaza.
- More raids by Israeli soldiers and violent attacks by settlers were recorded across the occupied West Bank, leading to clashes with Palestinian residents.
The ceasefire proposal Hamas responded to
Al Jazeera has received the basic translated framework of the proposal:
- Duration: Ceasefire for 60 days. President Trump guarantees Israel’s commitment to a ceasefire for the agreed duration.
- Release of captives: Release of 10 live Israeli captives and 18 deceased from the “List of 58.” The releases will take place on days one, seven, 30, 50, and 60 as follows:
- Release of eight live captives on day one.
- Release of five deceased captives on day seven.
- Release of five deceased captives on day 30.
- Release of two live captives on day 50.
- Release of eight deceased captives on day 60.
- Humanitarian Aid: Aid will be immediately sent to Gaza upon Hamas’s approval of the ceasefire agreement. The agreement will ensure the arrival of aid in sufficient and intensive quantities, as in the agreement of January 19, 2025, regarding humanitarian assistance.
- Aid will be distributed through channels agreed upon, including the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent.
- Israeli Military Activities: All Israeli offensive military activities in Gaza will cease upon the agreement going into effect. During the ceasefire, military and surveillance air operations over Gaza will pause for 10 hours daily, or 12 hours on days when captive and prisoner exchanges are taking place.
Negotiations:
- On day one, negotiations will begin under the supervision of the mediators/guarantors regarding arrangements for a permanent ceasefire, including:
- a. Keys and conditions for exchanging all remaining Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
- b. Matters related to redeployment and withdrawal of Israeli forces, as well as long-term security arrangements, in Gaza.
- c. “Day after” arrangements in Gaza, which may be raised by either party.
Aid, prisoner release expected to be discussed in ceasefire negotiations
Political analyst Xavier Abu Eid says that while “there is willingness to reach an agreement” on a Gaza ceasefire, Hamas’s response to the latest proposal marks “the start of another difficult process”.
“What we have here is a positive response by Hamas to the offer that has been presented, but it is still an invitation for negotiations. There are still several issues that Hamas and other Palestinian factions would like to see very clearly” outlined in that process, Abu Eid told Al Jazeera.
Those issues include humanitarian aid access to Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and what will happen after the 60-day ceasefire ends. “These are certainly not minor issues,” he said.
Abu Eid added that it will be important to see what type of negotiations Netanyahu will conduct in Washington, DC, where the Israeli prime minister will meet Trump at the White House on Monday.
Ceasefire framework ‘vague’, offers ‘no guarantee’ on war’s permanent end
Mohamad Elmasry, a professor of media studies at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, says people should temper their expectations as the Gaza ceasefire proposal contains vague language and no guarantees on implementation.
“There’s no guarantee that we’ll get to Day 50 of this agreement, and then there’s no guarantee that the war will end,” he told Al Jazeera.
“There’s a lot of vague language about how the Israeli troops are going to be redeployed inside of Gaza. There’s vague language about negotiations that are supposed to take place about further prisoner-and-captive exchanges, and then there’s vague language about the permanent end to the war.”
Elmasry added that Hamas appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, and had little option but to agree to move forward with the proposal.
“If they don’t accept, then they’ll be labelled as the ones who didn’t want peace. That’s how it will be sold in the United States and in Israel,” he explained.
“But I do think that the fact that Hamas is taking this so seriously suggests that there is a level of pure desperation on the part of the Palestinian side. There’s so much death and destruction [in Gaza].”
