Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has retracted a significant concession in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, now demanding that armed men be prohibited from returning to northern Gaza during any ceasefire, the CNN reported.
Initially, Israel had agreed to permit Palestinians unrestricted access to northern Gaza under a ceasefire. However, Netanyahu instructed his negotiation team this week to insist that armed men be barred from northern Gaza as a condition for any ceasefire and hostage agreement, the source revealed.
This new demand has the potential to derail progress in hostage negotiations, raising questions about Netanyahu’s commitment to Israel’s own proposed deal, which has formed the basis for detailed discussions.
Last week, a U.S. official mentioned that a framework agreement was “in place,” and an Israeli official confirmed that Netanyahu had authorized detailed negotiations, suggesting a potential breakthrough. Talks resumed in Doha, Qatar, last Friday. Over the weekend, Hamas agreed to a significant compromise, asking Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing an agreement. However, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office on Sunday cast doubt on the deal’s progression, outlining several “principles” that Israel is unwilling to abandon, including the continuation of fighting in Gaza “until all objectives of the war have been achieved.”
Israel launched its war on Gaza nine months ago in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. The conflict has devastated large parts of Gaza, displaced nearly the entire population, and resulted in more than 38,000 deaths, as reported by Gaza’s health ministry. Israel has maintained that the war will not end until all hostages are freed and Hamas is eradicated.
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