As more than 80,000 worshippers filled the Jerusalem site on the first Friday of Ramadan, a day that passed without incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected in Tel Aviv a final draft of a truce proposed by Hamas that called for an end to the war.
“Hamas’s demands remain far from realistic,” said the Prime Minister’s Office in a concise statement, which also announced approval of the military plan devised by the army to invade Rafah in southern Gaza, where 1.4 million displaced people live in dire conditions.
Netanyahu “approved the action plans in Rafah and the Israeli Army” is preparing “for the operational phase and for the evacuation of the population,” the statement added, without giving details on how Israel would evacuate and shield so many civilians during an anticipated ground assault.
Even the United States affirmed on Friday that it had not seen the plan, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who nevertheless stressed that his government “works daily” with Israeli authorities to address the challenges the war poses for Israel, the Palestinians, and the broader region.
Around 23 million tons of rubble
The Israeli leadership’s refusal comes after mediators from Qatar delivered to the Israeli side on Thursday a Hamas proposal with minor modifications to the number of prisoners and the duration for which Israeli hostages would be released. It maintained Hamas’s initial demand for a permanent end to the “Israeli aggression.”
Sources familiar with the draft in Cairo indicated that in the first phase of the agreement all Israeli women, children, the sick, and the elderly would be released in exchange for between 700 and 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Moreover, in this first phase, which would last about 40 days, “warrior women” would also be freed and roughly a hundred Palestinian inmates sentenced to life imprisonment would be released.
The end of this initial stage would lead to a permanent ceasefire, allowing Hamas to secure the release of the remaining captives, and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip.
Subsequently, a broad reconstruction process would begin in a battered area that already holds nearly 23 million tons of rubble and unexploded weapons scattered across the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported, warning that it would take years to rebuild a safe environment.
Close to 31,500 dead in Gaza
Netanyahu announced that a Israeli delegation would travel to Doha to continue negotiations for a possible truce, amid Hamas accusations this Friday that the Israeli government has stalled the talks by insisting that Hamas’s demands are clear and have not changed.
“All the rumors spread by the enemy about obstructing negotiations are false, because Hamas has been clear in its demands,” said the group’s Beirut representative, Ahmed Abdel Hadi.
He reiterated: “A permanent cessation of aggression, a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip, the removal of the effects of the aggression, and the return of the displaced.”
He also revealed that Hamas has asked the mediators to obtain international guarantees and a clear commitment from Israel to meet the four conditions if Hamas is to show greater flexibility.
With a trucess that has not arrived, the only one so far lasted a week at the end of November. Since then, roughly 31,500 people have died in Gaza, more than 72 percent of them women and children, and about 73,400 have been wounded, according to health authorities.