Israel is ready to land Rafah, Hamas raises disarmament conditions

Despite international warnings of consequences, the US did not agree to support, Egypt strongly objected, yesterday, Israeli officials still announced that the country’s army was ready to evacuate Palestinian civilians from the area. Rafah area and prepare to attack the last Hamas battalions in this area. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said:

“In fact, the war cabinet is meeting to discuss how to destroy the last remnants, the remaining quarter, of the Hamas battalions in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza. Hamas abandoned any potential deal despite Israel’s best efforts to bring back the hostages, it was Hamas that walked away.”

However, today, in Cairo, the Israeli delegation is still participating in negotiations with the Egyptian mediator. According to sources from the host country, Israel has shown more goodwill regarding the conditions for evacuated people to return to northern Gaza, with the condition of having to undergo security check procedures.

It is expected that Egyptian mediators will also meet with Hamas immediately after the meeting with Israel to promote a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement.

To put pressure on Hamas, yesterday, the US and 17 other countries whose citizens were hostages had to issue a statement calling on Hamas to release all hostages as a solution to end the crisis in Gaza. The statement emphasized that the release of hostages will bring about a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, as well as further create conditions for humanitarian ceasefires.

Although Hamas announced that it would not give in to international pressure in negotiations, yesterday, a senior official of this organization – Mr. Khalil al-Hayya, for the first time left open the possibility of “disarmament”. . This official emphasized that this group is willing to accept a ceasefire for five years or more and will lay down arms to transform into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along the pre-1967 borders. .

Specifically, Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), to establish a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with international resolutions” along the pre-1967 border. Senior figure Hamas affirmed that if that comes true, the group’s military wing will disband.

There is currently no response from the Palestinian Authority and Israel to the statement of the Hamas official, but the border issue will be a major barrier that Israel is unlikely to accept.