Hamas drops key ceasefire deal demand, renewing hope of progress
By Jon Gambrell
Dubai: Several officials in the Middle East and the United States believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive has likely helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its long-standing demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.
Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip.Credit: AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted on Monday (AEST) that military pressure – including Israel’s ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah – “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations”.
Hamas is highly secretive and little is known about its inner workings. In recent internal communications seen by AP, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in Gaza urged the group’s exiled political leadership to accept the ceasefire proposal pitched by US President Joe Biden.
The messages, shared by a Middle East official familiar with the ongoing negotiations, described the heavy losses Hamas has suffered on the battlefield and the dire conditions in the war-ravaged territory. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to share the contents of internal Hamas communications.
It was not known if this internal pressure was a factor in Hamas’ flexibility. But the messages indicate divisions within the group and a readiness among top militants to reach a deal quickly, even if Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, may not be in a rush. Sinwar has been in hiding since the war erupted last October and is believed to be holed up in a Gaza tunnel deep underground.
Two US officials say the Americans are aware of internal divisions within Hamas and that those divisions, the destruction in Gaza or pressure from mediators Egypt and Qatar could have been factors in the militant group softening its demands for a deal. The US officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s view of the current situation.
The Middle Eastern official shared details from two internal Hamas communications, both written by senior officials inside Gaza to the group’s exiled leadership in Qatar, where Hamas’ supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is based.
The communication suggested that the war had taken a toll on Hamas fighters, with the senior figures urging the militant’s political wing abroad to accept the deal despite Sinwar’s reluctance.
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha dismissed any suggestions of divisions within the group.
“The movement’s position is unified and is crystallised through the organisational framework of the leadership,” he said.
The intelligence official showed AP a transcript of the communications in Arabic, but declined to share specific details about how the information was obtained, or the raw form of the communications.
The official said the communications took place in May and June and came from multiple senior officials inside the group’s military wing in Gaza.
The messages acknowledged Hamas fighters had been killed and the level of devastation to the Gaza Strip wrought by the Israeli campaign in the enclave. They also suggest that Sinwar either isn’t fully aware of the toll of the fighting or isn’t fully communicating it to those negotiating outside the territory.
It was not known whether Haniyeh or any other top officials in Qatar had responded.
The bloody aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a UN-run school last week.Credit: AP
Israeli officials declined to comment on the communications. Egypt and Qatar also had no immediate comment.
Egypt and Qatar have been working with the US to broker a ceasefire and end the devastating nine-month war. After months of fits and starts, talks resumed last week and are scheduled to continue in the coming days.
A deal is still not guaranteed. Netanyahu’s office announced over the weekend that “gaps still remain”. The US officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the prospects for a ceasefire based on the latest developments, but stressed that numerous efforts had looked promising only to fall through.
Still, the sides appear closer to a deal than they have been in months.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ October attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed 1200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages – about a third of them are thought to be dead.
Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials.
AP
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.