In video: Protesters and kidnapped families block Ayalon Darom/photo: Erez Harel
The main issue that led to the impasse in the negotiations on the abductees deal was Hamas's demand for the full return of Palestinian residents to the northern Gaza Strip - so said senior Israeli and American officials involved in the negotiations.
Palestinians leave south towards Rafah/Reuters
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A senior Israeli official said that the political level in Israel, and to a certain extent in the US, made a miscalculation regarding Hamas's position and the ability of the mediators to extract additional concessions from it, especially on the issue of returning to the northern Gaza Strip.
"The negotiations are dramatically stuck.
This is not a show.
There is a fundamental gap between Israel and Hamas," said the Israeli official.
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In the news center
Yesterday (Monday) at around nine o'clock in the evening, the first indications began to arrive in Israel regarding Hamas' answer to the American mediation proposal, which included the gradual return of several thousand Palestinians to the north of the Strip every day, as well as the release of approximately 700 Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages.
Two hours later, Hamas issued an official statement in which it claimed that it would not bend beyond the position it presented on March 14, and accused Israel of failing the negotiations and that it did not agree to compromise on the issue of the end of the war, the withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip and the release of prisoners.
Until six o'clock in the morning, the Israeli negotiating team sat in Doha with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators and went over the Hamas response document.
After it became clear that Hamas did not change its positions, Mossad head Dedi Barnea and Major General Nitzan Alon decided to return the negotiating team to Israel.
"Hamas' response left the impression on Mossad head Dedi Barnea that Hamas does not want to move forward but only to gain time to increase international pressure on Israel," said an Israeli official.
"Hamas' response left him with the impression that they don't want to move forward."
Barnea/documentation in social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law
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A source privy to the details of the talks said that the US, Qatar and Egypt see the return of the Israeli negotiating team from Doha as only a "time-out" and estimate that the negotiations will resume in a few days.
"The Israelis just said they are returning to consultations. Everyone still wants to continue talking so we don't think the negotiations are over," the source said.
However, an Israeli official who is privy to the details of the talks claims that the crisis is more serious than what is estimated in Washington or Cairo.
According to him, conflicting messages from the mediators to Israel and Hamas, wishful thinking about the degree of pressure being exerted on Yahya Sinwar and an incorrect reading of the map led to the impasse.
"The mandate that the Israeli negotiating team received was too narrow.
At the political level they hoped that this would be enough, but it did not materialize.
We did not succeed with military activity and international pressure in flexing the positions of Hamas.
The question is whether it can be recognized or not?
You can make claims, but it won't bring back abductees.
If you want a deal, you have to acknowledge the reality," said the Israeli official.
Wishful thinking about the degree of pressure being exerted on him led to the impasse.
Sinwar/ShutterStock, Abed Rahim Khatib
What next
The Israeli official noted that the American mediation proposal was not seen by Hamas at any stage as serious and satisfactory, but rather as an Israeli attempt to smear the talks.
According to him, Hamas does not see his response as an explosion of the negotiations. The organization still wants a hostage deal that will lead to a ceasefire, but wants to do so under conditions that are reasonable from its point of view.
The Israeli official noted that the political echelon should decide on a strategic issue - whether it is willing to pay at least part of the prices that Hamas demands in order to move forward with the deal.
"There is clarity about what needs to be done in order for there to be a deal. For example, agreeing to steps related to the method of returning to the north and the redeployment of military forces in the Gaza Strip. But we need to decide whether we are ready for it or not," said the Israeli official.
More on the same topic:
Yahya Sinwar
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
Hamas