Israel undermining ceasefire and captive deal negotiations: Analyst
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called in recent days for the release of the captives held in Gaza, but Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, says Hamas’s position on the issue remains unchanged – in that it’s prepared to release them in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and an end to the war.
They’ve said “they’ll release the captives in exchange for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners but more importantly, the war has to stop and Israel has to withdraw”, Al-Arian told Al Jazeera.
He added that Hamas has on more than one occasion made concessions to allow negotiations to continue, including last week saying it would release half of the remaining captives if Trump could secure a 60-day truce in a letter directed to the US president.
Al-Arian cited a more recent proposal by Trump, which Hamas officials were mulling when they were attacked in Doha by Israel.
“Once Hamas or the resistance says yes, the response from them [Israel] is to withdraw from the negotiations or not respond,” Al-Arian added.
Trump comments on halting Israel’s war on Gaza ‘disingenuous’
President Trump’s positive comments at the UN General Assembly on finally ending Israel’s grisly war on Gaza must be taken cautiously, an analyst says.
Trump met leaders of Arab and Muslim countries on Tuesday, and earlier told the assembly that Israel’s war on Gaza must “stop immediately, we have to negotiate peace”.
“I think it’s a disingenuous statement. I don’t think there’s any proof that he’s given new promises,” Sami Al-Arian from Istanbul Zaim University told Al Jazeera.
“The Americans are not honest brokers, they’ve been dishonest brokers. The Americans are really complicit in this, not just the Israelis.”
Asked if Trump is too weak to stop Israel’s far-right leaders from attacking Gaza, Al-Arian said “that’s a good question”.
“Do they have something against him? Are the Epstein files at work where he’s being extorted? Or is it really unwillingness for him, because he doesn’t want to do anything that would resolve this matter. Or is he totally misinformed?”
