Hamas and Israel at Odds Over the Failure to Finalize Ceasefire
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RDA Gulf Correspondent - . December 25, 2024
- . Update: December 26, 2024 1:31 am
Despite reports of progress in recent days, Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas exchanged blame on Wednesday over their inability to reach a ceasefire accord. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of reverting to previously agreed-upon terms, while Hamas said that Israel had set new demands.
“The occupation has set new conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available,” Hamas said.
It further stated that the negotiations, which were mediated by Egypt and Qatar, were serious and that it was demonstrating flexibility. Netanyahu countered in a statement that “The Hamas terrorist organization continues to lie is reneging on understandings that have already been reached and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations.”
However, he continued, Israel will keep up its unrelenting attempts to free the hostages. After a major week of negotiations, Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday that Israeli negotiators had returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for discussions over a hostage agreement.
In the last two weeks, the U.S. and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar have intensified their efforts to reach a phased agreement. Agreements on the deployment of Israeli troops have been one of the difficulties. Speaking to commanders in southern Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel will continue to maintain security control over the enclave, including through the use of buffer zones and command posts.
Israel says it wants to terminate Hamas’ control of the enclave first so that it won’t be a threat to Israelis while Hamas is calling for an end to the battle. In one of the cruelest operations of the 14-month conflict, Israeli forces continued to apply pressure on the northern Gaza Strip encompassing around three hospitals in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia which are located on the northern border of the enclave.
Israel is accused by Palestinians of trying to establish a buffer zone in northern Gaza by permanently displacing its population. Israel disputes this claiming that as its troops fight Hamas militants, it has ordered civilians to evacuate such regions for their own safety. Health officials said that at least 24 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza on Wednesday. They stated that one strike targeted a former school in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City that was providing shelter to displaced residents.
According to the Israeli military, it hit a Hamas militant who was active in Gaza City’s Al-Furqan neighborhood. The military said it was targeting another Hamas operator in the southern Gaza region of Al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone where a number of Palestinians were killed and injured.
According to Israeli estimates, Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel murdered 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza, sparking the war. Health officials in the Hamas-run enclave say that more than 45,300 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. A large portion of Gaza lies in ruins, and the majority of the 2.3 million people living there have been displaced.
