Offers And Counter Offers

A positive agreement from Hamas on an offer given to them by negotiators was indicated as we’re told in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian group's chief said on Saturday.

The Hamas spokesperson they got the offer and responded:

"Two days ago, we received a proposal from the mediators in Egypt and Qatar. We dealt with it positively and accepted it," Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised speech.

He also took a dig at Israel who they want to accept the offer as well. I don’t know about you, but any deal that Hamas eagerly accepts usually has a poison pill in it:

"We hope that the (Israeli) occupation will not undermine (it)," said Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team in indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza that erupted in October 2023.

While not giving specifics, Egypt says that Israel is in favor of a deal:

Security sources told Reuters on Thursday that Egypt had received positive indications from Israel over a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase.

What we do know about the deal is the number of hostages to be released and how frequently they will be let go:

The proposal suggests Hamas release five of the Israeli hostages it is holding each week, the sources said.

Israel apparently gave the negotiators a counter offer indicating they want changes to the original offer although the PMO didn’t say they liked or disliked the first offer given to them:

The Israeli prime minister's office said it had held a series of consultations according to the proposal that was received from the mediators, and that Israel had conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the United States.

Reuters asked the prime minister's office if it had also agreed to the ceasefire proposal but it did not immediately respond.

Israel’s Offer Made

We then learned from an article in The Media Line that Israel’s offer was made through and approved by the US:

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations last night regarding a ceasefire-hostage release proposal forwarded by mediating countries, according to the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday. The PMO also noted that Israel responded to the Hamas terror group this afternoon with its own counteroffer, crafted “in full coordination with the US.”

Details are not concrete from either offer, but we did get a few more details about the deal:

This comes after an Israeli official told the Walla news site earlier today that Hamas agreed to an Egyptian proposal: release five living hostages in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire set to begin over Eid al-Fitr, which starts Sunday evening. The official also noted that the bodies of slain hostages would be released during the ceasefire, though specific numbers were not provided.

While the diplomacy wheels are turning Hamas decided to ratchet up the pressure on Netanyahu and the government by releasing a propaganda video from one the hostages:

Amid these developments, a propaganda video featuring Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot was published with his family’s approval. In the three-minute clip, Bohbot, visibly distraught, pleads for his release so he can reunite with his wife and son. “Do you not understand? I want to get out of here!” he exclaims. Addressing the Histadrut Labor Federation, he laments, “I’m choking, I’m choking,” as he pleads for protection and an end to his captivity. Shortly after, his family issued a brief statement: “We have nothing to add to what Elkana cried out for.”

But Hamas may regret doing this because the public response isn’t for a 50 day ceasefire, but a deal to release all the living hostages and bodies all at once by Passover which is only 14 days away and ends a week later or April 20th. That’s less than 50 days so something has to give here. Here is what one forum had to say and it echoes what I just told you:

On Saturday night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a powerful press release calling on Israel’s leadership to secure the release of all 59 hostages. In a heartfelt statement, Hamas captivity survivor Iair Horn, whose brother Eitan remains in captivity, recounted the horrors of his 498‑day ordeal underground, without water, sunlight, or fresh air. He warned that the hostages now fear becoming collateral damage and pleaded for a comprehensive deal so that families can celebrate Passover together, with both the living reunited and the deceased honored.

I tend to agree that keeping the pressure on Hamas will make a deal easier or provide the rationale for a rescue attempt, one that the US could help with since one of the remaining living hostages is American. Although it could happen, I just don’t see Hamas giving up their strongest bargaining tool unless they are guaranteed to survive. Israel’s stated goals for the war don’t include Hamas still being in power when all is said and done. That was etched in stone on October 7th of 2023. So something has to give here.