5 days ago
Israeli army refusal of full withdrawal from Gaza stalls ceasefire talks
The Israeli army's refusal to fully withdraw its troops from Gaza are stalling its indirect negotiations with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal, sources told The National on Sunday.
The latest Israel-Hamas negotiations began in the Qatari capital Doha on July 6 amid high expectations fuelled by upbeat comments made by US President Donald Trump that suggested a deal was in reach.
The talks have over the past week made significant progress, but not without hiccups over key issues like the distribution of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and what comes after a proposed 60-day truce ends, according to the sources.
Held on two floors at a suburban Doha hotel, they are taking place with mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar at hand to enable the process.
Success of the talks would herald the third ceasefire since the Gaza war began in October 2023 following a deadly, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel communities.
The last ceasefire collapsed in March this year, when Israel resumed military operations after nearly two months of quiet. The first truce in the war was in November 2023. It lasted one week.
The sources said Israeli negotiators were due later on Sunday to present Hamas representatives with maps showing areas the military intends to withdraw from and those it aims to stay in.
They said Israel wants to hold on to at least five areas in Gaza, including a narrow but strategic strip of land that runs on the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Egypt border as well as another corridor that is close by.
Israel also wants to keep outposts in the north and south of the territory, including an area close to the spot outside the southern city of Rafah where it is reportedly planning to provide humanitarian aid to about 600,000 Palestinians, according to the sources.
Hamas, said the sources, has agreed to allow Israel to set up a security zone that is 1km deep and runs on the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Israel border, but it is adamant that the Israeli army pulls out from everywhere else in the coastal enclave.
Hamas is also demanding that the security zone is patrolled by an international force, said the sources.
A Palestinian source told AFP on Sunday that Israel's proposals to keep its troops in Gaza were holding up a deal. It quoted a senior Israeli official it did not name as accusing Hamas of inflexibility and deliberately trying to scuttle an accord.
Besides the 60-day truce, the main terms of the proposed deal is for Hamas to free 10 living hostages and for humanitarian assistance to flow into the territory where hundreds of thousands are facing hunger.
They also include the release of about 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails and negotiations during the initial truce on ending the war completely.
If Hamas agrees to a deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would be prepared to enter talks on a more permanent end to hostilities.
The Israeli leader, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said last week that neutralising Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks.
That includes disarmament, he said. Failure to do that would mean Israel would have to do so by force, he warned.
Hamas has vehemently rejected calls for surrendering its arms but suggested a willingness to lay down and store them in the case of an end to the war.
Mediators had in the meantime asked both Israel and Hamas to postpone discussions until Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in the Qatari capital, according to AFP.
The source did not say when that would be, but the sources who spoke to The National said he was unlikely to travel to Qatar before a deal becomes within reach.
The Hamas attack on southern Israel communities in October 2023 left about 1,200 dead, mostly civilians. The assailants also took another 250 hostage. Of the hostages, 49 remain, with about 27 who died in captivity.
Israel's response to the October 2023 attack has to date killed at least 57,882 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, and wounded more than twice that number, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
