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Israel's New Demands Are Expected to Delay Completion of Hostage Deal, Sources Say

"Gaza’s invisible massacre: aid workers killed in record numbers
"Note the latest stolen Palestinian land is contiguous to another block close to the Jordan border. Look at the map again .. ""

Mossad Chief David Barnea provided the mediators with a list of new Israeli reservations, some regarding wording that would impose a cease-fire on the ground. According to an Israeli source, negotiations are expected to last at least three weeks before the deal can be carried out


Balloons released at the protest calling for the release of the hostages in Tel Aviv, on Saturday.
Credit: Itai Ron

Jonathan LisMichael Hauser Tov
Jul 7, 2024 3:19 am IDT

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Negotiations over a hostage deal continue making progress. Israeli delegations are expected to leave soon for talks with American administration officials and representatives of the mediating states in an attempt to give concrete content to the deal now shaping up.

Among other issues, Israel and Hamas will try to find an acceptable formula for swapping Palestinian prisoners .. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-06-13/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israels-cruel-detention-of-palestinians-is-being-hidden-from-the-public/00000190-1285-d1a8-abbe-93ede6a20000 .. for Israeli hostages, as well as determining the identities of Palestinian prisoners who will be released and Israel's right to veto some of the ones it refuses to release.

* Israelis protest across the country for a hostage deal, amid reports of progress in talks
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-06/ty-article/.premium/israelis-protest-across-the-country-for-a-hostage-deal-amid-reports-of-progress-in-talks/00000190-88e5-dbb7-afbf-cdede4950000

* Netanyahu tried to derail the hostage deal even before Hamas responded
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-06/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-tried-to-derail-the-hostage-deal-even-before-hamas-responded/00000190-7f58-df13-a798-ffd8b3ad0000

* Netanyahu's nightmare: The IDF and the Biden administration ganging up against him
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-03/ty-article/.premium/netanyahus-nightmare-the-idf-and-the-biden-administration-ganging-up-against-him/00000190-79c1-d0b6-a9b1-7df5debb0000

The teams will also try to set up the groundwork for the anticipated cease-fire .. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-07/ty-article/.premium/israels-new-demands-are-expected-to-delay-completion-of-hostage-deal-sources-say/00000190-88e5-dbb7-afbf-cdede4950000 , along with preparations for the logistics required for the movement of forces through the area, as part of the move. According to an Israeli source, negotiations with Hamas are expected to last "at least three weeks" before the deal can be carried out.

Mossad chief David Barnea returned from a quick visit to Qatar on Friday .. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-05/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-sends-mossad-chief-to-negotiate-israel-hamas-truce-amid/00000190-7f31-d7c8-a9fb-fff92ffe0000 , characterized in Israel as a "significant and good visit." This followed Hamas' response to the blueprint delineated by U.S. President Joe Biden and came in response to the heavy pressure exerted on both sides by the U.S. administration to get the deal completed.

Barnea provided the mediators with a list of new Israeli reservations regarding comments Hamas had added to the Biden plan. Israel presented a "tough stance," said a source familiar with the details. However, another source warned that Israel's new demands are expected to delay the completion of the negotiations, and that it was not clear whether Hamas would accede to these new demands.

"Hamas has already agreed to the latest position presented by Israel. But in Friday's meeting, Israel presented some new points it demands that Hamas accept," said a source familiar with the details. According to one source, Israel has made it clear it would oppose wording that would impose a cease-fire on the ground, whether during the negotiations over the deal's second phase or subsequently.

[Insert: Is this why so many Americans want so many Americans to have so many guns.
So they are ready for a situation like this between Americans again. Some crazies want it.]

Even though the involved parties are maintaining a "cautious optimism," they found it hard to assess the chances of success. The Prime Minister's Office said there are still gaps between the two sides' positions.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, last month. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

Hamas continues to give out messages indicating that it is committed to the process. Thus, the organization confirmed on Saturday that they have retracted their demand .. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-05/ty-article/hamas-informs-hezbollah-it-agrees-to-gaza-cease-fire-deal-netanyahu-gaps-remain/00000190-849d-d161-abd0-cdbddaec0000 .. that Israel commit to a permanent cease-fire before signing the deal.

A senior Hamas source told Reuters that the organization had agreed to hold talks on this issue during the first phase of the deal, which is expected to last six weeks. According to this source, Hamas has accepted the American proposal, agreeing that talks about releasing soldiers and male civilians can begin 16 days after the first part of the deal commences.

A senior Palestinian official said the present proposal could lead to a deal if Israel agrees to it, and a source in the Israeli negotiating team said there was a real chance of reaching an agreement. The Hamas source added that the current proposal would ensure a temporary cease-fire, the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and a withdrawal of IDF forces as long as talks on the second phase of the deal continue. The Prime Minister's Office has not yet responded to this report.

The Associated Press has quoted two sources as saying that the deal now on the table includes a general cease-fire for six weeks, during which the humanitarian stage will take place, with the release of women, the elderly and sick or wounded hostages, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, spread out over six weeks. Israel will have to withdraw from populated areas in the Gaza Strip to allow people displaced from its northern sections to return to their homes.

[Good to know many houses are still standing in Gaza. If our press is responsible
on this score we should have seen some of those pictures by now, eh what?]

Over this period, Israel and Hamas will conclude, through the mediators, the conditions for the second phase of the deal, which will include the release of the male civilian and soldier hostages, in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The third stage, according to this report, includes the release of the bodies of dead hostages and the beginning of the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, which will take several years. Hamas, say these sources, still demands written guarantees from the mediators that Israel will continue to discuss the continuation of the cease-fire after the first stage is completed.

Political figures in Israel, including senior Likud members, doubt Netanyahu's ability to realize the hostage deal now on the table. They say the pressure exerted by far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir .. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-01/ty-article/.premium/ben-gvir-smotrich-reject-u-s-hostage-proposal-threaten-to-quit-netanyahu-coalition/0000018f-d552-d5bc-a1bf-df7225960000 .. against the deal is significant, and that they find it difficult to envision Netanyahu going against their position when the dismantling of his government is at stake.

[Those two again. Umm, if the war stops Netanyahu will go to trial. Hope
the charges against him are not a part of the negotiation, in Israel's mind.]


Mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, st the demonstration calling for the release of
the hostages in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

Given that Israel and Hamas have not yet reached an understanding, and that the negotiations will continue next week, Netanyahu has not yet sorted out this issue with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Various senior Likud officials estimate that Netanyahu has coordinated his moves with Smotrich, and updated him on sensitive details of the negotiations over the last few weeks and months. If the talks succeed, Netanyahu will need to find out if his partners' threats were serious or not.

The estimates regarding other coalition members are that Shas and United Torah Judaism will support the deal if it comes to fruition, as they did last time it seemed that things were approaching an agreement. The two parties do not intend to fight Netanyahu over this issue, which is not at the core of their agenda.

On Friday, Netanyahu talked about the progress of these negotiations with the head of the National Unity Party, Benny Gantz .. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-09/ty-article/.premium/with-gantz-gone-netanyahu-is-left-with-no-one-to-blame-for-his-notorious-indecision/0000018f-fe72-db9d-addf-ff727ac00000 . The party later said that "Gantz noted to the prime minister that the party will give its full support to any responsible plan that leads to a return of the hostages." The party does not intend to return to Netanyahu's coalition government, and any support they provide will be from the outside.

The conversation was relatively brief, and sources said that they did not discuss a National Unity Party commitment to refrain from voting against the government in the event that a call for replacing the government arises after a hostage deal is achieved.

After their talk, Gantz said: "Netanyahu, not everything depends on you. But you must show commitment, determination and sincere intentions this time as well. You know as well as I do that since the previous proposal, we have lost many of the hostages, who died in captivity. This is not the time for ego games with the minister of defense – the hostages have no time left."

In an interview with Walla! News' correspondent Tal Shalev, former minister Gadi Eisenkot, who lost a son in Gaza, said that "we are the closest we've been to a deal in nine months. To my great regret, I can't see Netanyahu rising to a level of strategic leadership and taking a very difficult decision to stop the war, to withdraw forces as required, and to discuss Israel's national interests. I find it hard to see Netanyahu accepting a deal and telling Smotrich and Ben-Gvir that this is the right thing to do. We are facing a strategic dilemma – returning the hostages versus the survival of the government – and he knows a deal will topple the government. Netanyahu is limited by personal and political needs, which overcome his ability to save the country."

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-07/ty-article/.premium/israels-new-demands-are-expected-to-delay-completion-of-hostage-deal-sources-say/00000190-89b1-d8b2-a3b6-fdff13d80000