A senior Egyptian who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity says terror group Hamas has rejected Israel’s proposal for a two-month ceasefire in which Hamas would release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners.
The official says Hamas leaders have also refused to leave Gaza and are demanding that Israel fully withdraw from the territory and allow Palestinians to return to their homes.
Under Israel’s proposal, Yahya Sinwar and other top Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to relocate to other countries.
The official says Egypt and Qatar, which have brokered past agreements between Israel and Hamas, are developing a multi-stage proposal to try to bridge the gaps. The proposal would include ending the war, releasing the hostages and putting forth a vision for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel should stop settlements in the West Bank because its the right thing to do. However if I were a Palestinian in Gaza and a peace deal was derailed because Hamas was refusing to agree without West Bank settlement concessions I’d be pretty pissed.
That being said given that Hamas broke the last ceasefire agreement, and their stated goal is to conduct other attacks like Oct 7th, I’m not sure how a ceasefire could be reached even on narrow grounds.