CIA Director William Burns proposed a ceasefire plan in Cairo but its nature, whether permanent or temporary, still divides Hamas and Israel
The US has put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but the two sides remain far from a deal to end the violence and exchange captives, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on 9 April.
"To be honest, we are not optimistic," one official familiar with the negotiations told the WSJ.
The plan was presented by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns to officials from Israel, Hamas, Qatar, and Egypt in Cairo on Sunday.
But mediators told the WSJ that Israel and Hamas still disagree on fundamental aspects of any deal, including the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in the north of Gaza, the identities of the Palestinian prisoners to be released, and whether the six-week ceasefire could become permanent.
Hamas informed mediators that it would study the proposal, the official said.
Israel's war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, plans to discuss the US proposal on Tuesday, an Israeli official said.
The most significant obstacle to a deal is that Hamas is seeking a permanent end to the war, while Israel is seeking only a temporary end so it can renew its attack on Gaza after the captives are released.
Many Israeli politicians and security officials view the war as an opportunity to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its 2.3 million inhabitants and to steal the land in the Mediterranean enclave to build Jewish settlements there.
Some Israelis have accused Netanyahu and his two prominent settler ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, of, therefore, having no interest in winning the return of the captives to end the fighting.
In the wake of the US proposal, Netanyahu said that he wanted "total victory" over Hamas, which he said required an attack on Rafah in southern Gaza, where over 1 million displaced Palestinians fled to avoid Israeli bombing elsewhere.
"This will happen; there is a date," he said of the plans for an operation in Rafah.
According to Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and government official, the disagreement about the nature of the ceasefire proposed by CIA Director William Burns remains critical.
"This Burns position is apparently still ignoring the elephant in the room – namely, is this a six-week deal before an assault of Rafah and more Israeli strikes, or is this the entry point to a permanent ceasefire?" he said.
The war began on 7 October when Hamas attacked Israeli military bases and settlements in an effort to break the nearly two-decade siege on Gaza and win the release of thousands of Palestinians held captive in Israel's prisons.
The attack led to the deaths of 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians. Some were killed by Hamas, while others were killed by Israeli forces themselves using attack helicopters, tanks, and drones. Under the Hannibal Directive, Israeli troops killed some of their own civilians and soldiers to prevent Hamas from taking them captive in Gaza.
Washington Offers Tehran Negotiations To Avoid Striking Israel: Report
Iranian diplomatic sources say the US is trying to convince Iran not to retaliate against Israel for its bombing of the Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this month, Al-Jarida newspaper reported on Monday.
The Israeli strike targeted a building attached to the Iranian embassy in Damascus. It led to the killing of the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, his deputy, and five other IRGC officers. A source in the Iranian foreign ministry told the prominent Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Jarida that Washington offered Tehran direct negotiations with Tel Aviv to de-escalate the conflict.
According to the source, Washington will guarantee to persuade Tel Aviv to stop its military operations in Syria and Lebanon on the condition that Iran commit not to retaliate against Israel for the Damascus attack.
The source revealed that the Iranians had also previously received a verbal Israeli proposal via a Gulf state. In the proposal, Tel Aviv claimed it was ready to stop operations against Iranian targets in Syria and Lebanon in exchange for Tehran abandoning retaliation for the killing of Zahedi, whose killing was considered the most significant blow to Iran since the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
According to the source, the Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to the Israeli message by saying that the proposal must also include a ceasefire in Gaza.
- At the same time, a diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Jarida that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an American proposal to pledge to stop attacks in Syria.
The source revealed that the Iranians had also previously received a verbal Israeli proposal via a Gulf state. In the proposal, Tel Aviv claimed it was ready to stop operations against Iranian targets in Syria and Lebanon in exchange for Tehran abandoning retaliation for the killing of Zahedi, whose killing was considered the most significant blow to Iran since the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
According to the source, the Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to the Israeli message by saying that the proposal must also include a ceasefire in Gaza.
However, some IRGC leaders were unhappy with the foreign ministry's response, viewing the Israeli proposal as a trap. The IRGC leaders argued that any negotiations with Israel must take place only after Iran has retaliated.
- The source stated that IRGC commanders believe that Israel's targeting of the Iranian consulate is an opportunity that should not be missed to strike a strong blow at Israel, especially since the consular building in Damascus is considered sovereign Iranian territory and was targeted in a clear violation of international law.
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