As of: March 8, 2024, 9:48 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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Press
Split
A new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has not yet been reached.
There are major differences of opinion within Hamas.
Cairo - The fronts have hardened in the talks taking place in Cairo about a six-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Israel wants to continue fighting until victory, and the radical Islamist Hamas wants to end the war in Israel on its own terms.
Now Hamas has paused the negotiations - apparently also because of an internal conflict.
Although US President Joe Biden promised a ceasefire agreement within a few days last week, the conflicting parties have not yet been able to reach an agreement.
The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan will begin in just a few days, on March 10th;
By then they had hoped for a deal.
It is not known exactly what is in Israel's "reasonable" offer to Hamas, according to Biden.
According to reports, there will be a 40-day ceasefire.
During this time, Israeli hostages were to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
In addition, the urgently needed expansion of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip should be made possible.
Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar (from left).
© Ashraf Amra
Stalled negotiations and finger-pointing – no agreement between Israel and Hamas
However, nothing will come of this for the time being;
The Hamas delegation left Cairo on Thursday (February 7).
Egypt, which is mediating together with Qatar and the USA, said that Hamas had agreed to the most important conditions for a first phase.
At the same time, however, she is calling for a more permanent ceasefire, which Israel rejects.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha criticized Israel for not wanting to be committed to a ceasefire and for refusing to “provide guarantees for the return of the displaced and the withdrawal from the areas into which it has invaded.”
This is what the editorial network Germany (RND)
writes
.
However, Hamas also contributed to the stalling of the negotiations.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, had largely stayed out of the talks until recently.
However, according to Egyptian officials, he recently said that Hamas currently has the upper hand in the negotiations.
The reasons he cited were, on the one hand, political divisions within Israel and, on the other hand, the increasing pressure from the USA on Israel to alleviate the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip.
Most recently, Sinwar began calling on Israel to hold talks on a permanent cessation of fighting - which ultimately led to the talks in Cairo being temporarily broken off.
Hamas leadership divided: accept Israel's offer or insist on an end to the conflict?
Upon its departure on Thursday, Hamas said the delegation was leaving Cairo "to consult with the movement's leadership."
However, negotiations will continue in order to achieve the movement's most important goals: an end to the fighting, securing more humanitarian aid and allowing those displaced from the Gaza Strip to return to their homes.
The group could return to Cairo on Sunday (February 10) for further talks, it said.
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There appears to be disagreement within Hamas leadership about how to proceed.
Sinwar's demands have put him at odds with Ismail Haniyeh, the
Wall Street Journal
reports.
Haniyeh is the head of the group's Qatar-based political bureau.
He was willing to accept a six-week pause in fighting to provide some relief for Gaza's 2.3 million residents, according to officials familiar with the talks.
Haniyeh then wanted to use the time to explore options for a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israel's military.
Hamas' apparent solo effort in the Gaza Strip - What happened before October 7th?
The claims of a dispute between the two Hamas leaders also stem from a report
published by
Sky News Arabia earlier this week.
It said Sinwar was heavily criticized by the Hamas leadership abroad for initiating the October 7 attack without prior consultation.
Only Sinwar's closest circle was informed: his brother Muhammad Sinwar, Muhammad Deif, Hamas's military chief, and Marwan Issa, Hamas's deputy military commander.
Back in January, the Arabic-language daily
A-Sharq el-Awsat
published a similar report based on Palestinian sources close to the al-Qassam Brigades.
There, too, it is said that the decision to carry out the attack was made by only a few Hamas leaders.
In addition, the decision for the attack and its timing was only made on October 6th, one day before October 7th.
Details were only passed on to a larger circle of Hamas leaders a few hours before the attack.
(tpn)