Hamas Rejects Israel Proposal Allowing its Leaders to Leave Gaza in Exchange for Stopping War: Report

Hamas leaders have rejected the Israeli proposal of a two-month truce and both sides have failed to agree on the conditions that will end this war permanently. They have in principle agreed that during a month-long ceasefire exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners could take place.

Hamas initially proposed a ceasefire lasting several months but following intense mediation efforts led by Qatar, Washington and Egypt and shuttle diplomacy by Biden administration, Netanyahu government and other parties the ceasefire agreement timeline has narrowed to one-month.

As both sides have failed to reach an agreement on how to end the war permanently this deal also has collapsed. The aforementioned developments were reported by news agency Reuters on Wednesday.

The news agency citing people familiar with the developments said Hamas is seeking “a package deal” that agrees a permanent ceasefire before hostages are released during the initial phase.

“We are open to all initiatives and proposals, but any agreement must be based on ending the aggression and the occupation’s complete pullout from Gaza Strip,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

Hamas absolutely rejected the proposal by Israel which suggested that the war will end if Hamas removes six senior leaders from Gaza. Israel wanted senior leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Mohamed al-Deif of Hamas who masterminded the October 7 attacks on Israel to leave the coastal enclave.

Israel initially began the retaliatory action on Gaza vowing to kill or capture the aforementioned leaders who are believed to be hiding deep within Hamas’ extensive network of tunnels beneath Gaza.

The Israeli officials said that such a “surrender and exile” scenario was being discussed in early January, according to recordings leaked to Israel’s N12 news network.

The discussions of a ceasefire, hostage-prisoner swap come at a time when the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under immense pressure from the families of over 130 hostages to secure their release as they remain trapped in Gaza. Netanyahu reiterated this week that only “total victory” over Hamas would bring an end to the war but Israel suffered a setback Monday as it recorded the highest daily death toll of its Gaza offensive with 24 fatalities, including 21 in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack in central Gaza and three elsewhere.