Jerusalem – Sputnik. On Monday evening, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the American proposal for the prisoner exchange deal includes a clause requiring a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including from the security zones established by the Israeli army within its interior, on the condition that a new government in the sector can impose security.
The channel stated that Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met today in Miami with U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and the former advisor and son-in-law of the U.S. President, Jared Kushner, to discuss the American proposal for the prisoner exchange deal and ending the war on Gaza.
An informed American source told the channel that Dermer’s discussions also touched on the American plan for the ‘day after’ the war in the sector. An Israeli official told the channel that ‘to proceed with the comprehensive deal, Hamas must realize that the option for a partial path is no longer available.’ The plan includes a ceasefire for 60 days or until the end of the second phase, which is supposed to include dismantling Hamas as an existing authority and military force by disarming the movement and forming a new government to manage the Gaza Strip.
In this context, Hamas Political Bureau member Bassem Naim said on Monday evening that ‘what is currently being proposed by Washington is not a comprehensive ceasefire agreement but initial ideas described by the American side as an offer.’ Naim added in a press statement that ‘the aim is not to reach an agreement ending the war, but to formulate an offer expected to be rejected by the resistance,’ stressing that ‘Hamas and the resistance factions are keen to reach an agreement that truly ends the war, not to sign a document of surrender.’
Naim explained that ‘the American proposal speaks of ‘handing over all prisoners on the first day,’ indicating that ‘the American ideas include a withdrawal from Gaza conditional on forming a government that Israel approves of.’ He noted that ‘these ideas also include discussing the fate of Hamas’s leadership and its cadres and demand disarming the resistance without any commitment related to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.’
Israel resumed bombing the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a nearly two-month halt, specifically since the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect on January 19, following stalled talks to extend the first phase of the agreement or move to its second phase. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was supposed to continue once the first phase, which ended on March 1, was extended or moved to its second phase, but disagreements between Israel and Hamas over the next steps prevented this.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the Gaza Strip is experiencing a ‘humanitarian disaster,’ while the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the need to end the war in Gaza and launch Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at achieving a two-state solution by establishing an independent Palestinian state that coexists peacefully and securely with Israel.
