Reports have appeared that Israel proposed a new deal to Hamas, which seems to be more of a “surrender” than a ceasefire. Israel reportedly demanded that Hamas and all other Palestinian groups surrender to Israel in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting. Hamas immediately rejected the proposal.
According to an April 14 report in Middle East Eye, which claims to have seen the proposal, the plan recommended that all the hostages be released as part of a phased deal, starting with half of them in the first week. Once the first half had been released, only then would Israel allow food and humanitarian aid to enter Gaza—a pure starvation tactic.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera Arabic on April 14 that the group was “open to all offers that alleviate the suffering of our people,” but that this proposal was demanding a “surrender” and “does not commit to a full cessation of war.” “Netanyahu is setting impossible conditions to sabotage the ceasefire agreement,” he said.
Zuhri went on to say: “We are ready to release all the living and dead captives at once in exchange for ending the war and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
An official from one of the Arab mediating countries told the Times of Israel on April 14 that no breakthrough was currently on the horizon and that “the same elements that have prevented a deal until now are still in place.”
