Hamas rejects Egyptian proposal to end war with Israel, refuses free elections in Gaza By Ronny Reyes
Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups operating in Gaza have rejected an Egyptian-led truce proposal with Israel that would see the militants relinquish power in return for an end to the war, sources say.
The terrorists, who conducted the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, have refused to take part in one of the biggest conditions laid out by negotiators in Cairo on Sunday: an end to Hamas’ reign in Gaza by forming a Palestinian parliament and holding free elections, according to two Egyptian security sources.
The terrorist organizations instead reiterated that the only thing they’re ready to discuss is a prisoner swap that would see more than 100 Israeli hostages released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel’s jails.
But a Hamas official who was in Cairo during the negotiations added that even a new prisoner swap would only take place once Israel has withdrawn from war-torn Gaza.
“Hamas seeks to end the Israeli aggression against our people, the massacres and genocide, and we discussed with our Egyptian brothers the ways to do that,” the official told Reuters.
“We also said that the aid for our people must keep going and must increase, and it must reach all the population in the north and the south,” the Hamas official added. “After the aggression is stopped and the aid increased, we are ready to discuss prisoner swaps.”
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, later told Al Jazeera, “No one accepts negotiating under fire – not Hamas, not anyone else.”
In terms of who would govern the Palestinian region after the war, Hamdan added, “Who will lead the Palestinians is an internal Palestinian issue.
“The people must elect their own leadership. No one has a right to dictate, not the Americans, Israelis or any one else,” he said.
Israel’s war cabinet convened shortly after the proposed peace deal was rejected, the Times of Israel said.
While previous peace talks have included exchanging one hostage for every three Palestinian women and minors freed, leaders for Islamic Jihad are now demanding a different approach even on that.
The terror group has claimed that the only fair exchange would be all the hostages for all the prisoners, according to the Egyptian sources.
There were about 5,250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails before the war, but that number has nearly doubled after thousands more were arrested in conflicts along the West Bank since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Association.
There are believed to be more than 100 Israeli hostages still in captivity in Gaza.
But while both sides are reportedly miles apart from a truce, Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, has come out to insist that the peace talks are not off the table, claiming that the Gazan groups have not rejected the Egyptian plan.
“The leadership of the movement seeks with all force to stop the aggression and massacres against our people completely and not temporarily,” he told Al Aljazeera. “Our people want to stop the aggression and do not wait for temporary truces and a partial truce for a short period, after which the aggression and terrorism will continue.”
The Egyptian plan focuses on three phases, the first of which involves a two-week truce agreement that would see 40 hostages freed in exchange for 120 prisoners.
The second phase involves the establishment of a new government in Gaza, with the final step calling for permanent peace and the freedom of all hostages.
Despite the apparent hesitation from the terror groups to accept the proposal, Israel also appears ready to reject it, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating that the war will only end when the terror group is destroyed.
“Anyone who talks about stopping — no. We’re not stopping,” Netanyahu said during a visit to Israeli troops in northern Gaza on Monday. “This is going to go until the end. Until we finish them. No less than that.”
In video uploaded by the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu was seen arriving in Gaza in a helicopter and being driven to where the troops were stationed to give them a pep talk. He also received a briefing on Hamas’ operations “in the heart of civilian areas” in Gaza.
The developments came as Israel revealed it had found evidence of two hostages on the grounds of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, the Times of Israel said.
A yellow Toyota Corolla discovered at the site belonged to Samar Talalka, who was kidnapped from a kibbutz by Hamas during its Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Talalka and two other hostages ended up being killed by friendly fire from Israeli troops earlier this month in a horrific botched military incident.
Blood from another hostage was found inside the vehicle, too, Israel said, without identifying the person.
The mother of one of the two other hostages killed by friendly fire along with Talalka said she doesn’t blame the Israeli army for her son’s death — and that the soldiers directly involved in the fatal shootings even sat shiva with the family, the Times of Israel reported Monday.
“Yotam was free, even if he did not return to Israel alive. He was free from Hamas’s captivity. In that way, he beat Hamas. It was important for me to say that to the soldiers,” she said.
“I was not angry for even a minute. Neither was my husband. There was no anger at the IDF for even a moment. There was pain, sorrow, great pain. … We were shocked,” said Iris Haim, whose son Yotam was slain, to Channel 12.
Netanyahu repeated his vow to continue the war till the eradication of Hamas was complete later in a speech Monday to the Israeli parliament, adding that the best way to free the remaining hostages in Gaza was to keep on the “military pressure,” the Times of Israel reported.
The comments garnered jeers and boos from several representatives and the families of the hostages who attended the meeting, with one relative shouting, “We don’t have time!”
Several of the families yelled, “Now! Now! Now!,” and held posters that read, “What if it was your brother?” and “What if it was your father?”
Netanyahu and his administration are also under fire over Israel’s alleged failings to prevent the Oct. 7 assault.
IDF Lt. Col. Sahar Fogel was the latest to speak out, revealing Monday that he had raised concerns about approving the Supernova music festival location so close to the Gazan border that weekend, the local news outlet Haaretz reported.
Fogel said it was a “needless security risk” to have a festival near Gaza, where thousands of people would party throughout the Sukkot holiday.
Despite his objections, Fogel was allegedly told to approve the desert festival, where Hamas would descend Oct. 7 and kill more than 360 people.
The IDF has said it is currently investigating the alleged shortfallings that allowed Hamas to invade Israel and kill more than 1,200 people.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu, also during his speech Monday at Israel’s parliament building, claimed that the International Committee of the Red Cross has refused to deliver life-saving medicine that the hostages in Gaza desperately need.
The Red Cross has repeatedly denied allegations from Israeli officials and legal organizations that it was purposefully failing to provide for the hostages, stating that the group has tried to maintain contact with Hamas to reach the hostages.
The Red Cross has said its ability to reach the hostages is limited and has only been further complicated by the ongoing conflicts in Gaza.
Nonprofit groups have claimed that Israel’s ongoing bombardments have greatly diminished the amount of aid reaching Gaza.
With Post wires
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