Egyptian proposal for ceasefire in Gaza receives frigid response from Hamas, PLO, Israel

Egypt has submitted a proposal for a new ceasefire agreement, according to anonymous sources cited by several regional, Israeli and international outlets.

The preliminary proposal includes three phases, reports say, including a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of more prisoners, preparations for Palestinian elections and eventually a permanent ceasefire and a larger prisoner exchange deal.

Though reports differed as to the particulars of each phase, some aspects are clear.

The first phase would see a two-week, extendable, truce which would include the release of 40 Israeli women, children and elderly men held in Gaza, particularly those in bad health, in exchange for 120 Palestinians of the same description. Some Israeli outlets reported that the duration of the proposed truce would be three weeks.

The proposed temporary ceasefire stipulates that the Occupation’s bombardment should stop, its tanks retreat and humanitarian aid and fuel be flown into Gaza. Bloomberg Asharq cited “sources informed of talks in Cairo with Hamas” to describe the details of phase one, while Axios correspondent Barak Ravid cited an Israeli official describing the same details.

The second phase, entailing the release of Israeli detainees killed in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians killed in Israeli prisons was described by Ravid, Israeli outlets, and an anonymous Egyptian official who spoke to the Associated Press. Israeli officials estimate that 20 Israeli prisoners held in Gaza have died or been killed in captivity.

A governance agreement is another element of the rumored proposal. Egypt would reportedly be involved in establishing dialogue between Palestinian factions leading to the formation of a united, Palestinian government made up of experts to manage both the West Bank and Gaza. This government would supervise the flow of aid supplies and reconstruction efforts until elections could be held in Palestine. But some reports, including Reuters who cited Egyptian officials, and Ravid, said that the governance solution would distance Hamas from leadership. Egypt has sought over recent years to mediate a reconciliation between the deeply divided Palestinian factions that would lead to national elections, but talks faltered several times over disagreements.

Finally, a permanent ceasefire that includes the complete withdrawal of Occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in Gaza, and the release of the rest of the Israelis, including Occupation soldiers, in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The exact release conditions are still to be agreed upon but so far include those sentenced to long sentences on serious convictions and those arrested after October 7. According to Ravid, 6000 Palestinians are to be released.

Reports of the proposal come after Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh spent four days in Cairo last week to discuss the status of the detainees, humanitarian aid entry, reconstruction of Gaza, and “ending the split” between Palestinian factions, among other issues concerning the Gaza Strip, according to informed sources quoted by Bloomberg Asharq News on Saturday.

According to an Egyptian official quoted by the Associated Press, the details of the proposal were worked out with Qatar —the other chief mediator between Palestinian factions and the Occupation government— before being presented to both sides, as well as the US and European governments.

Informed sources quoted by Asharq News on Sunday said the delegation led by Haniyeh promised to discuss the Egyptian proposal with its political bureau back in Doha and with its military wing, the Qassam Brigades. The delegation also reportedly reiterated the demand for the release of all Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of the Israelis held in Gaza, and insisted they will not restart negotiations with the Occupation until a ceasefire is reached. 

On the opposing side, Israeli media reported that the Israeli War Cabinet discussed the Egyptian proposal on Monday.

How have resistance factions responded? 

Egyptian security sources were quoted by Reuters on Monday as saying that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. 

Hamas denied rejecting the proposal, with Izzat al-Risheq, a member of their political bureau, saying they have "no knowledge" about the information published by Reuters.

A statement from Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya al-Sinwar, initially published by Al Jazeera on Monday but later removed from the Qatari outlet’s page, also said that Qassam fighters in Gaza “have destroyed the Occupation military, and will not submit to its conditions.”

Two more messages from Sinwar, quoted by Bloomberg Asharq, stressed that Qassam fighters “have the capabilities to continue fighting for months more,” but also that Hamas is open to all proposals for an end to the Occupation’s aggression, particularly from Egypt and Qatar. 

Hamas officials have also strictly maintained that a cease to Israel’s aggression is a precondition to any prisoner swap deal.

Reuters quoted a member of the Hamas delegation to Cairo saying, “after the aggression is stopped and the aid increased we are ready to discuss prisoner swaps.”

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement’s leader Ziad al-Nakhala, who is currently in Cairo to speak with Egyptian officials, said that any prisoner swap must be based on the principle of “all for all,” meaning the release of all prisoners in Gaza for all the Palestinians held in Israel, and set a permanent end to Israel’s aggression on Gaza as a pre-condition for further negotiations, according to Reuters.

Sources quoted by Alsharq News on Saturday said the group showed more flexibility regarding Gaza’s post-war governance plan. The outlet quoted a Hamas official in November saying the group is in favor of forming a Palestinian technocratic government that will be responsible for providing relief to the people of Gaza and rebuilding the Strip, adding that such a government must be formed by national consensus.

But, as sources noted to Bloomberg Asharq, Egypt would likely only relaunch Palestinian national dialogue after the formation of the aforementioned government, explaining that “Cairo realizes that launching Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue now may face obstacles and disagreements regarding programs, quotas, etc., which may delay the launch of the reconstruction, relief and shelter process in the Gaza Strip.”

How has Israel responded? 

Israel’s War Cabinet was reportedly due to discuss the proposal on Monday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated in a televised statement on Sunday evening his position that the war will not stop until Hamas is eliminated. 

“We will continue to fight until complete victory over Hamas. That is the only way to bring back the hostages, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said, though he acknowledged the “very heavy toll” the military has suffered since the ground offensive on Gaza started.

In an op-ed published on Monday by the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu outlined three Israeli pre-conditions for ending the war on Gaza: “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be deradicalized.” 

On this proposed post-war demilitarization, he said it “will require establishing a temporary security zone on the perimeter of Gaza and an inspection mechanism on the border between Gaza and Egypt that meets Israel’s security needs and prevents smuggling of weapons into the territory.”

But Netenyahu is facing pressure at home. Anti-government rallies took place over the weekend in Tel Aviv, calling for a deal to secure the release of Israelis held in Gaza, several of whom have been killed by the Occupation’s aggressive bombardment.

Most recently, the Israeli military said the bodies of five captives were recovered from an underground tunnel in northern Gaza. Hamas published a video last week showing three of the now dead captives, with a message in Hebrew saying, “your military weapons killed the three.”

Israeli Minister Benny Gantz told a families of some Israel prisoners on Sunday night that multiple proposals for their releas are on the War Cabinet’s table, including Egypt’s proposal, but indicated that they were not all being seriously considered, according to the WSJ, citing one of the meeting’s attendants.

How has the PLO responded?

The Egyptian proposal was rejected by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas’s rival government in the West Bank, on Monday.

A PLO statement said the organization’s executive committee held a meeting led by Abbas to discuss “what was published in the media about a proposed initiative that talks about three stages, including discussions about forming a Palestinian government to manage the West Bank and Gaza away from the framework of responsibility of the PLO, the legitimate and the only representative [of Palestinians],” before rejecting it.