 "Hamas steps back on hostages to end war but Israel may be preparing for a long-term stay in Gaza")
Could the Israel-Hamas war finally reaching a conclusion? Hamas on Friday expressed its willingness to release all the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the Gaza war.
While the development may seem a positive step forward towards a possible permanent ceasefire, Hamas has not accepted all the terms of a previously proposed Israeli truce deal. The Palestinian group has said that it will not disarm, as demanded by Israel, and has rejected an interim ceasefire in Gaza.
A temporary truce deal that went into effect in January and ended in March saw the release of many hostages and halted fighting in Gaza for some time. But, as soon as the ceasefire deal expired, Israel wasted no time in resuming aerial and ground offensives in Gaza.
Under the Israel-Hamas agreement, both sides were expected to begin discussions on a permanent end to the war on the 16th day of the ceasefire. However, Israel declined to participate in those talks as long as Hamas continued to hold power in Gaza.
Since then, Israel has shown many signs that it is not leaving Gaza anytime soon.
An expanded operation in Gaza
Earlier this week, Israel intensified its attacks across Gaza, hitting hospitals and other sites, killing at least 21 people, including children.
The country has also announced that it had completed construction of a new security corridor cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, and the military said it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory.
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View All“Activity will expand rapidly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza, and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, without saying where Palestinians were meant to go.
The statement urged Palestinians to remove Hamas and release the remaining hostages, saying: “This is the only way to stop the war.”
Israel blocks aid to Gaza
The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led government has also blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, with Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, saying that the blockade would continue.
“Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,” Katz said in a statement, amid a major humanitarian crisis following Israel’s decision to prevent the entry of aid since March 2.
“No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid,” he added.
Hamas rejects disarmament condition
In its truce deal proposal, Israel had demanded that Hamas disarm after the war ends, a condition that has been rejected by the group.
“Partial agreements are used by (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu as a cover for his political agenda… we will not be complicit in this policy,” Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said in a televised statement.
Israel to remain in ‘security zones’ indefinitely
Earlier this week, Katz said, “Unlike in the past, the (Israeli military) is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized,” adding that the military “would remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza — as in Lebanon and Syria.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that Israel’s ongoing presence in certain parts of Lebanon is obstructing the Lebanese army from fully deploying, as mandated by the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
With inputs from agencies
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