Israeli-Palestinian conflict
June 14, 2024
09:54
Hamas representative in Beirut, Osama Hamdan, on CNN: “We want a clear position from Israel to accept the ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza and let the Palestinians determine their own future, reconstruction, lifting of the siege… we are ready to talk about a fair agreement on the exchange of prisoners.”
“No one has any idea” how many Israeli hostages are still alive. Hamas representative in Beirut, Osama Hamdan, said this in an interview with CNN, explaining that any agreement for the release must include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza. In the interview, Hamdan argues that Hamas needs “a clear position from Israel to accept the ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza and let the Palestinians determine their own future, reconstruction, (revocation) of the siege… we are ready to talk about a fair agreement on the exchange of prisoners.”
Hamas: “Israel wants a ceasefire of only 6 weeks”
And it is precisely the duration of a possible truce that has been discussed at the negotiating tables for weeks. Osama Hamdan claims that “the Israelis only want a ceasefire for six weeks and then they want to go back to fighting”, in effect continuing the work of destroying the Gaza Strip. For the Hamas leader, the responsibility for the lack of agreement lies with the Americans, “who have not yet managed to convince the Israelis to accept a permanent ceasefire” in exchange for the release of the hostages.
To accept the truce proposal, Hamas needs “a clear position on the complete withdrawal from Gaza and the end of the siege” and guarantees that “the Palestinians themselves determine their future and the reconstruction” of the Strip, Hamdan added, according to which the latest proposal on the table does not satisfy the demands for an end to the war. Negotiations over the US-backed proposal have intensified in recent days, but appear to have stalled on Wednesday after Hamas submitted its response to the document, 12 days after first receiving it. For Hamas, Hamdan said, the duration of the ceasefire is a key issue. The fear is that Israel has no intention of completing the second phase of the agreement: the permanent end of the war and the complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza to be implemented only after further negotiations between the parties. “The end of hostilities must be permanent,” he said, “and Israel must withdraw completely from Gaza.”
