Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza were gathering momentum on July 5 after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal and Israel said it would resume stalled negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden on July 4 that he would send a delegation to resume negotiations, and an Israeli official said Israel’s team would be led by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency.
A source on Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement.
The Israeli remarks were in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were not acceptable.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts said the latest proposal by the militant Islamist group could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel.
He said that Hamas was no longer demanding as a pre-condition an Israeli commitment to permanently cease fire before the signing of an agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout a first six-week phase.
“Should the sides need more time to seal an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, the two sides should agree there would be no return to the fighting until they do that,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
This story is from the July 06, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the July 06, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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