Israel is seeking to amend a plan to reach a truce in Gaza and release Hamas prisoners, a Western official, a Palestinian source and two Egyptian sources said, complicating efforts to reach a deal to end nine months of fighting that has devastated the enclave.
The four sources told Reuters that Israel says displaced Palestinians must be screened when they return to the north of the Strip when the ceasefire begins, backing away from a consensus that would allow civilians who fled to the south to return home freely.
The Western official said Israeli negotiators “want a screening mechanism for civilians returning to northern Gaza, as they fear that these residents will support” Hamas fighters still holed up there.
The Palestinian source and the two Egyptian sources said Hamas rejected the new Israeli demand.
The Egyptian sources said another sticking point was Israel’s demand to retain control of Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Cairo rejects as going beyond any framework for a final agreement that would be acceptable to the parties.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Israel’s demands.
“Netanyahu is still evasive and there is no change in his position,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas leader. Abu Zuhri did not comment directly on Israel’s demands.
The news of the new points of disagreement comes as US President Joe Biden called during talks in Washington on Thursday with Netanyahu for a final ceasefire agreement.
"We are closer now than we have ever been," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, but noted gaps.
Netanyahu said in a speech to Congress on Wednesday that Israel was engaged in "an intensive effort" to secure the release of the captives in Gaza.
The sources who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the on-again, off-again talks aimed at reaching a deal for a Gaza truce and the release of the captives in Gaza.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt are mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas that revolve around a framework based on an Israeli offer backed by Biden, who is pressing the two sides to resolve remaining differences.
The framework consists of three stages, the first of which includes a six-week ceasefire and the release of women, elderly and wounded detainees in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel.
Talks on the second phase — which Biden describes as a “permanent end to hostilities” — are supposed to continue through the first phase. Major reconstruction work would begin in the third phase.
Sticking Points
US officials have been saying for weeks that a deal is close, but sticking points remain.
The Western official and the two Egyptian sources said Israeli officials raised the demand for a mechanism to screen civilians returning to northern Gaza during the latest round of negotiations in Cairo earlier this month. The Western official said it was “unexpected.”
The official added that Israel is concerned not only about Hamas fighters infiltrating the north but also about “agents” among the civilians who are covertly supporting the movement that rules the strip.
The Israelis are reluctant to withdraw their forces from the Philadelphi corridor, on the border with Egypt, the official and the three other sources said.
The Israeli military took control of the strategic strip in May and says it contains smuggling tunnels through which Hamas has been getting weapons and other supplies. Egypt says it destroyed the tunnel networks leading into Gaza years ago and has set up a buffer zone and border fortifications to prevent smuggling.
The Western official said that the past few days have witnessed efforts to find a solution to this issue, either through an Israeli withdrawal “or reaching some understanding on how to manage this,” without going into details.
A senior Biden administration official, briefing reporters on Wednesday before Netanyahu’s meeting with Biden, said they were in the final stages of reaching an agreement.
“There are some things we need from Hamas, and there are some things we need from the Israeli side. And I think you’ll see that happening here over the course of the next week,” the official said.
Among the things Hamas is demanding is “the hostages that will be released,” the official said, without elaborating.
Abu Zuhri rejected the claim, saying that “the US administration is trying to cover up Netanyahu’s obstruction of the deal by saying that there are things that are required from both sides, and that is far from the truth.”
Comments