Hamas studying ‘biased’ ceasefire deal that lacks end-to-war guarantee

During a meeting with the families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will accept a new ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States’ special envoy to the region.

Netanyahu added, however, that agreeing to a ceasefire would not mean that Israel would end its over-600-day war on Gaza.

Two Hamas officials who spoke to Mada Masr following the Israeli prime minister’s comments said that the new ceasefire deal lacks guarantees that Israel won’t resume fighting, which the movement has pushed for in negotiations since 2023. 

Both sources said that Hamas is still internally discussing the proposal. 

“The movement is currently working to convey its point of view to the US administration through mediators,” one of the sources said. 

Hamas had expressed its agreement to an earlier version of the deal proposed by US Envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this week, only for the envoy to later dismiss Hamas’s stance on the deal in comments to US media.

The current proposal, presented to Israel on Wednesday night, would begin with a 60-day halt to fighting, an Egyptian official close to the negotiations told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

During the first week, nine Israeli prisoners and the remains of 18 others would be released in two phases. The 60 days could also be extended in exchange for the release of more prisoners. Israel believes 59 abductees remain in Hamas custody.

Meanwhile, the parties would hold negotiations regarding an end to the war. If an agreement is reached, the remaining prisoners, both living and dead, would be released. If no agreement is reached, Israel could resume military operations, according to the Egyptian official.

The two Hamas sources stated that the deal they received on Thursday lacked key demands they have made since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, namely a guarantee from the US administration that Israel will not resume its aggression, and a commitment to the full withdrawal of Israeli troops, who are currently occupying large swaths of the strip. 

“It fails to meet the minimum demands that Hamas has always put forward,” the second Hamas official said. 

Both sources also described the new proposal as inclined toward Israel’s demands for an end to the war. “The new proposal adopts the Israeli vision and leaves the matter of ending the war and withdrawal in Israel’s hands,” the second source said. “There is a prevailing sense in Hamas that the Occupation will ultimately bypass any guarantees and resume the war once the temporary truce expires.”

Israeli officials have also expressed an ongoing commitment to prolonging the military campaign on the strip. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that Israel should not accept a partial deal. "We need to continue tightening the rope around Hamas' neck and force it into a complete surrender deal with all the hostages at once," he wrote.

In contrast, National Unity leader Benny Gantz said that pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to retrieve the Israeli nationals still thought to be in Hamas’s custody. "Even tonight, Netanyahu knows the government will not fall because of the hostage deal. [Some] 600 days after the start of the fighting — he has no excuse," he said.

If finalized, the agreement would be personally announced by US President Donald Trump, according to reporting on the proposal, while “Witkoff would come to the region to finalize the agreement.”

“I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution — a temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict,” Witkoff said in Washington, DC on Wednesday as he announced the proposal’s delivery to Hamas.

Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip has ground on for over 20 months, with a few weeks’ respite during a short-lived ceasefire earlier this year.

It resumed an offensive in March and has subsequently displaced hundreds of thousands of people from Rafah, Khan Younis, and the northern towns of Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, with local officials estimating that around 1 million people are currently crowded into the remaining buildings and temporary shelters in Gaza City.

A total siege has also caused starvation to set in across the coastal enclave, with malnutrition factoring in hundreds of deaths since March, the Gaza Government Media Office has said. As supplies dwindle, social cohesion in the strip has begun to fray amid a spike in incidents of armed theft, some of which appear organized according to eyewitness accounts.