Despite US initiative, high hurdles remain for Gaza deal

The international mediators are pushing for an agreement. In Israel, the USA's biggest advance to date is leading to a breakdown. And what is Hamas doing? The news at a glance.

Following US President Joe Biden's push to end the Gaza war, pressure is growing on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Tel Aviv alone, around 120,000 people took to the streets on Saturday evening for an agreement and demanded new elections.

President Yitzhak Herzog thanked Biden for his efforts and said he had assured Netanyahu and the government of “my full support for a deal that will lead to the release of the hostages.” According to Jewish tradition, there is no greater duty than the return of prisoners and hostages, “especially when it comes to Israeli civilians whom the State of Israel was unable to defend,” the president said.

In Berlin, the latest proposals for further negotiations have sparked optimism. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sees this as a tangible prospect of an end to the war, said the Federal Government spokesman.

Netanyahu's right-wing coalition partners, however, threatened to collapse the coalition if Israel agreed to the deal. Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the deal, saying it would mean a “victory for terrorism” and a “total defeat” for Israel. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X that the plan would end the war without achieving the war goals.

On Friday, Biden surprisingly presented details of a draft deal in three phases, which Israel has already agreed to, according to the US government. The first phase provides for a complete and unrestricted ceasefire of six weeks and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas in Gaza. A specific group of hostages would initially be released – including women, the elderly and the injured. In return, hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In a second phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released. In a final phase, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would begin.

A Hamas spokesman based in Lebanon expressed his support on Saturday. He said that the Israeli offer presented by Biden would be examined. However, according to information from the Wall Street Journal, Hamas' military leader Jihia al-Sinwar, who is staying in tunnels under the Gaza Strip, is only willing to make an agreement if it ensures the survival of Hamas as a military and political force in Gaza. Netanyahu, in turn, made it clear on Saturday that Israel's conditions for an end to the war had not changed: the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar, which are acting as mediators in the conflict, called on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement in a joint statement.

Israel has agreed to the agreement proposal presented by Biden, but many details are still unclear, stressed Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, to the British newspaper “The Sunday Times”. “It is not a good deal, but we absolutely want the hostages to be released, all of them,” he said. “There are still many details to be clarified,” Falk reiterated, pointing out that Israel's conditions have not changed: in addition to the release of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas. “The idea that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are met is a non-starter,” Netanyahu said.

The plan presented by Biden was also discussed in a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Scholz on Sunday. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit subsequently stated: “The German government supports Washington's appeal: Hamas must finally put an end to its murderous activities and release the hostages – with the Israeli offer, there is now a tangible prospect of an end to the fighting and an end to the war.”

The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sinwar, whose consent is required for any agreement, believes that time is on his side and that the war is dragging Israel deeper into a quagmire, the Wall Street Journal reported. Civilian casualties in Gaza are contributing to making Israel an international pariah, Sinwar told his contacts in notes from underground, the newspaper reported. While many of the exiled representatives of Hamas' political wing want to show that Hamas is committed to ending the suffering of civilians, Sinwar wants to ensure that Hamas remains a major political force in Gaza.