Cairo (AFP) – Israel and Hamas on Monday gave a cold public reception to the Egyptian proposal to end their agreement. Bitter war. But the old enemies stopped short of rejecting the plan outright, raising the possibility of a new round of diplomacy to stop the devastating Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian plan calls for the release of the hostages in stages and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, according to a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat familiar with the proposal.
The Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal, said that details had been prepared with the Gulf state of Qatar and presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments. Egypt and Qatar mediate between Israel and Hamas, while the United States is Israel's closest ally and a major power in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment directly on the proposal. But he told members of his Likud party that he was determined to press ahead with the Israeli attack, which he launched in response to an Israeli attack. October 7 Hamas attack In southern Israel, 1,200 people were killed and 240 others were taken hostage.
He added: “We will expand the fighting in the coming days, and this will be a long battle that is not close to ending.”
Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel throughout the fighting. Late Monday, a barrage of rockets was fired, setting off sirens in the southern city of Ashkelon. An Associated Press video showed what appeared to be several interceptions by the Israeli missile defense system. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The Egyptian proposal falls short of Israel's stated goal of crushing Hamas. It also appears to conflict with Israel's insistence on maintaining military control over Gaza long after the war.
But Netanyahu faces intense internal pressure to reach an agreement to return more than 100 Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza.
While he pledged to continue the war during a speech in Parliament, relatives of the hostages interrupted him and demanded their immediate return. “now now!” They shouted.
The high death toll among Israeli soldiers as a result of the ground operation also threatens to undermine popular support for the war. The Israeli army announced the death of two more soldiers on Monday, bringing the total death toll in the war to 156.
Netanyahu's war cabinet is expected to meet late Monday. It was not clear whether they would discuss the Egyptian proposal.
Hamas did not officially respond to the proposal. But it is unclear whether Hamas will agree to give up power after controlling Gaza for the past sixteen years.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official believed to be based in Qatar, issued a statement reiterating the movement’s position that it would not negotiate without a “complete cessation of aggression.” He said that Hamas would not agree to a “temporary or partial truce for a short period.”
News of the proposal came at a time when Israeli air strikes heavily bombed the central and southern Gaza Strip.
In the Maghazi refugee camp on Monday, rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble of the previous night's bombing. Records at nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital, reviewed by The Associated Press, showed at least 106 people killed, making it one of the deadliest raids in the Israeli air campaign.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the United Nations World Health Organization visited the hospital on Monday.
“The hospital is receiving far more patients than the staff can handle. Many will not survive the wait,” he said in a post on X, previously Twitter.
The war has destroyed large parts of Gaza and killed people More than 20,600 Palestinians It caused the displacement of almost all of the region's population of 2.3 million people.
UN officials have warned that a quarter of the population is starving under the blockade imposed by Israel on the region, which allows only a small amount of supplies to enter.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Hamas admitted to shooting a 13-year-old boy, who was part of a group of people who tried to seize aid from a truck. The shooting led to violent protests and rare public criticism of Hamas.
The Egyptian proposal
The Egyptian proposal is an ambitious attempt not only to end the war, but also to create a plan for the next day.
The agreement calls for an initial ceasefire for up to two weeks, during which Palestinian militants will release between 40 and 50 hostages, including women, the sick and the elderly, in exchange for the release of between 120 and 150 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, according to Al-Masry. The official said.
He added that at the same time, negotiations will continue regarding extending the ceasefire and releasing more hostages and bodies held by Palestinian militants. Israeli officials estimate that 20 of the hostages died or were killed in captivity.
He added that Egypt and Qatar will also work with all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the internationally recognized rival Palestinian Authority, to agree to form a government of experts.
He added that the government will govern Gaza and the West Bank for a transitional period while the Palestinian factions work to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas will negotiate a comprehensive agreement “all for all,” he said. This includes the release of all remaining hostages in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners in Israel, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the cessation of rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants.
Israel detains more than 8,000 Palestinians on security-related charges or convictions, according to Palestinian figures. Some of them have been convicted of fatal attacks on Israelis. While their release would be controversial, Israel has a history of approving lopsided releases.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke by phone on Monday with Iran's top diplomat Hossein Amir Abdollahian regarding the war in Gaza, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. The statement said that Shukri discussed efforts to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire. No further details were provided. Iran is considered one of the main supporters of Hamas.
In Washington, the White House refused to comment on the Egyptian proposal.
US officials remain in close contact with Egypt and Qatar about releasing more hostages, and several proposals have been put forward, according to a person familiar with the talks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes diplomacy, said that while the Egyptian proposal is seen as a positive sign, the United States doubts it will lead to a breakthrough.
Inside Gaza
The Israeli attack was one of these attacks The most destructive military campaigns in modern history. More than two-thirds of the 20,674 Palestinian deaths were women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants among the dead.
The attack led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies.
With aid shipments limited, crowds tried to seize some of the goods arriving on trucks. Hamas gunmen were seen on top of some vehicles. The group says it is protecting the shipments, while Israel accuses it of stealing aid.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Hamas acknowledged that a policeman in the Hamas-run Interior Ministry shot a 13-year-old boy, saying the shots were fired when a group of people tried to seize aid from a truck near the city of Rafah. An official in the Hamas government’s media office said on Sunday.
The shooting led to violent protests and rare public criticism of Hamas, which has shown little tolerance for dissent during its rule.
The angry families of the killed child, Ahmed Barika, tried to attack a police station and burn tires, demanding that the policeman be held accountable.
One of his relatives, Musaad Barika, accused Hamas of murder in video comments circulated on social media, and accused the policeman of shooting the boy “directly in the head.”
He said that the family had previously cooperated with Hamas to secure the border area with Egypt. He called for the policeman to be held accountable, warning that the family would prevent “any vehicles” from passing through the area.
The devastation wrought by the war over the past weeks has led to sporadic outbursts of anger against Hamas, something that was previously unthinkable during the group's 16-year rule of Gaza.
Israel faces international criticism over the number of civilian deaths. It blames Hamas, pointing to the militants' use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel says it killed thousands of Hamas activists without providing evidence.
Late Monday, the Israeli army announced that it had discovered the stolen car of the family of Israeli hostage Samer Al-Talalqa, in a hospital complex in northern Gaza. Al-Talaqa was among them Three hostages were accidentally shot dead By Israeli soldiers in Gaza earlier this month.
The army said that fragments of a hand grenade and blood stains of another hostage were found in the car. She added, “Finding the car directly links the hospital to the brutal events that occurred on October 7.”
Christmas amidst war
Dozens of members of Gaza's small Christian community held a Christmas Eve mass at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, which they also used as a shelter. Last week, Catholic officials said two Christian women were killed by Israeli sniper fire in the compound.
“This is not a feast,” said Kamal Ayad, whose wife and daughter were killed in the shooting. “This is a holiday of pain for the Palestinian people.”
He said his only wish was “peace and hope for a ceasefire.”
The service was held late Sunday, but details did not emerge until Monday due to frequent internet outages.
Bethlehem fell silent On the occasion of Christmas, holiday celebrations were cancelled.
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Gobin reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip, and Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Karim Chehayeb contributed reporting from Beirut.
