The latest proposal, which Israel helped craft but has not fully agreed to, is laid out in two phases, the first of which calls for 20 to 33 hostages to be released over several weeks in exchange for the pause and the release of Palestinian prisoners. The second phase is what sources described as the \u201crestoration of sustainable calm,\u201d during which the remaining hostages, captive Israeli soldiers and the bodies of hostages would be exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners. <\/p>\n
The diplomatic source familiar with the talks said the reference to sustainable calm was \u201ca way to agree to a permanent ceasefire without calling it that.\u201d <\/p>\n
After months of deadlock, agreement from both sides would be a major step toward ending the war. But a failure to agree could deepen Israel\u2019s presence in Gaza \u2014 if no deal is made, Israel is likely to launcha large-scale ground invasion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering. Israel\u2019s allies, including the United States, have warned against the operation due to the potential for large-scale civilian casualties. <\/p>\n
Israel is awaiting a response from Hamas, which is expected to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Monday, the sources said. A working-level Israeli delegation of Mossad, Shin Bet and the Israeli military officials is expected to travel to Cairo on Tuesday, the Israeli source and another Israeli official said. <\/p>\n
A response from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, is expected within days \u2014 possibly within the next 24 hours. <\/p>\n
The length of the first phase of the pause in hostilities would be linked to the number of hostages released, with the latest framework calling for a one-day pause for each hostage, the Israeli source said, although this number is expected to shift during more in-depth negotiations. <\/p>\n
The release of 40 hostages for a six-week ceasefire had been the basis of negotiations for months, but Israel has agreed to accept fewer <\/strong>hostages in the first phase after Hamas dropped its offer to fewer than 20 people earlier this month. <\/p>\n US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Hamas has been presented with a ceasefire proposal that is \u201cextraordinarily generous on the part of Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn this moment the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas,\u201d he told World Economic Forum (WEF) President B\u00f8rge Brende in the Saudi capital Riyadh. \u201cThey (Hamas) have to decide and they have to decide quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that they will make the right decision.\u201d <\/p>\n Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, also speaking in Riyadh, said he was hopeful that Israel and Hamas will accept the proposal. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a proposal on the table, up to the two sides to consider and accept but certainly the objective is a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire and dealing with the humanitarian conditions,\u201d Shoukry told a panel at the WEF in Riyadh on Monday. <\/p>\n He said he is hopeful that \u201cthe proposal has been taken into account\u201d and that \u201cwe are waiting to have a final decision.\u201d <\/p>\n Israeli officials have expressed an openness to negotiating the \u201crestoration of sustainable calm\u201d as part of a comprehensive deal that would effectively end the war. <\/p>\n An Israeli source familiar with the negotiations said Egypt has proposed the parties agree to a one-year ceasefire as part of a comprehensive deal that would see Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages and the bodies of those who have died. <\/p>\n Hamas has insisted that a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza should be part of the agreement. Israel has thus far maintained that its operation in Gaza will continue until Hamas is eradicated. <\/p>\n Israel has also now agreed to the unrestricted movement of Palestinians to northern Gaza, the sources said, a key demand by Hamas which has held back negotiations in the past. <\/p>\n Hanging over the negotiations is the increasingly likely prospect of an Israeli military offensive in Rafah, which Israeli officials have signposted for months but are now holding back, saying they want to give space to the negotiations. <\/p>\n But Israeli sources have characterized the latest Egyptian effort to broker a deal as the last chance to avert that offensive. <\/p>\n \u201cThe only chance to stop Rafah is a deal,\u201d the Israeli source familiar with the negotiations said. <\/p>\n The US and other Israel allies have warned that such an operation will not have their support if adequate measures aren\u2019t taken to ensure the safety of civilians. <\/p>\n \u201cPreparations for entering Rafah continue. In any deal, if there is one, Israel will not give up the goals of the war,\u201d the Israeli official said. <\/p>\n Blinken reiterated in Riyadh that the US wouldn\u2019t support a major military operation in Rafah \u201cin the absence of a plan to ensure that civilians will not be harmed\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have not yet seen a plan that civilians can be effectively protected,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby said Sunday that Israel has told its US counterparts that it won\u2019t launch an invasion of Rafah until the Biden administration can share its concerns. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we have to have a better understanding from the Israelis about what they want to do as a matter of fact, we\u2019ve had several staff talks with them, we intend to do that more,\u201d he said on ABC. \u201cThey\u2019ve assured us that they won\u2019t go into Rafah until we\u2019ve had a chance to really share our perspectives and our concerns with them.\u201d <\/p>\n In a call Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden addressed the need for increased humanitarian assistance and \u201creiterated his clear position\u201d on a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah, according to a White House readout of the conversation. <\/p>\n The death toll from Israel\u2019s bombardment in Gaza continued to climb over the weekend. <\/p>\n Twenty people, including at least one infant and a toddler, died following an Israeli airstrike over Rafah, Gaza, overnight into Monday, according to hospital officials. <\/p>\n In a separate incident, two people were killed and several others injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a house belonging to the Hijazi family in the Sabra neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, according to Basal. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The latest proposal, which Israel helped craft but has not fully agreed to, is laid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} \u2018Extraordinarily generous\u2019 proposal<\/h2>\n
Rafah operation<\/h2>\n
Rising death toll<\/h2>\n