Hamas demands a full Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah crossing, no permanent ceasefire

In Hamas’s response to the Israeli outline for the hostage deal, it demanded, among other things, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad told Al Jazeera that they were ready to “deal positively to arrive at an agreement,” and their main goal was to stop Israeli operations in Gaza.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told Reuters that Hamas’s response to the deal “opens up a wide pathway” to reach an agreement.

Egypt and Qatar also confirmed they were examining the deal and would continue to facilitate mediation between Israel and Hamas until an agreement is reached and that they will continue to work with the United States to achieve a ceasefire deal.

No permanent ceasefire

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Hezbollah-aligned channel Al Mayadeen that they had amended the ceasefire proposal to specify that it would not be permanent, in contravention of President Biden’s proposal.

They clarified that they would not accept any deal that did not include a total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas also told Al Mayadeen that they considered disagreements between Israel and the US over the ceasefire proposal as “only tactical.”

The US had expected Hamas to accept the deal without much resistance, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the proposal was nearly identical to the one proposed on May 6 by Hamas itself.

Source » jpost.com