Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept any ceasefire deal that requires the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners or the departure of Israeli troops from Gaza, as the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said he was willing to travel to Cairo to discuss the proposals.
Haniyeh said the group’s aim remained to end Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and secure a full pullout of Israeli forces from the territory.
Although it was known Israel would struggle to accept such terms, Egypt, Qatar and the US are hoping to see if the two sides can be persuaded to accept a ceasefire lasting at least a month, which offers the chance for almost all the hostages to be released.
The proposal, described as a framework, was hammered out between Egypt, Qatar, the US and Israel on Sunday during talks in Paris. The location of the talks meant Hamas negotiators could not be present.
Even if they were CIA-ing, I’m pretty sure they’d be CIA-ing in support of Bibi rather than the other way around. The US seems happy enough to let him carry on genociding, as long as he provides just enough plausible deniability.