Mulish Israel, bellicose Netanyahu: Why Gaza ceasefire deal is distant

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas are underway in Egypt, with mediators from Cairo, Washington and Doha pushing for a new ceasefire deal.

So far, the sore point is that Hamas is seeking a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of troops from Gaza, while Israel is only offering a 40-day truce period.

According to Egypt's state-owned Al-Qahera news channel, Hamas officials have left Cairo after discussing the new proposal on Tuesday, April 30. The Hamas delegation is expected to return with a written response within the next 48 to 72 hours.

In case the deal doesn't come to fruition, Israel has threatened to invade Rafah, the last remaining area where at least one million Palestinians are taking shelter after Israel described it as a safe zone despite continuously shelling it for the last six months.

What does the proposal include?

The latest proposal, which Israel helped to draft but has not fully agreed to, comprises two phases.

While Israel believes Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others, Hamas is expected to release 20-33 Israeli hostages in the first phase - lowered from 40.

And in exchange, Israel is expected to release 9,100 Palestinians who are languishing in various jails.

The second phase aims to achieve what sources have termed the "restoration of sustainable calm", in which the remaining hostages, captured Israeli soldiers, and the bodies of hostages would be exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.

For Hamas, any meaningful ceasefire deal should take hold if Israel ensures to cease bombings and ground assaults in Gaza and withdraws its troops from the battered territory where famine and health crises have pushed the surviving population to extreme margins.

So far, Israel has been keeping matters vague — offering an extended pause to its relentless aerial bombings and ground offensive, vowing to resume fighting soon after the 40-day limit is over.

For the ceasefire arbiters, Israel has been stuck up on the hard bargain, refusing to budge and completely ignoring the heavy Palestinian death toll, which largely includes women and children.

The 72-hour question

While Israel is trying hard to convince the world that it is as much interested in securing a ceasefire deal as Hamas and world leaders are, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deploys a harsh rhetoric that goes against the spirit of any truce.

On the afternoon of April 30, Netanyahu remained steadfast in his war-mongering, threatening to invade Rafah “with or without a ceasefire”.

Netanyahu’s hawkish stance matches with Israel’s military postering on the ground. Several newspaper reports suggest that Israel's army is on standby, ready to invade Rafah whenever they are ordered to do so within the next 72 hours.

Israeli army's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has approved final plans for the impending military offensive, with troops and tanks positioned near the Gaza border, according to the Israeli Ynet news website.

US says Israel is 'extraordinarily generous'

Despite Netanyahu throwing a wrench into the ceasefire negotiations, the Biden administration continues to support Israel’s “genocidal” military campaign in Gaza, even going as far as describing Israel’s truce offer as “generous”.

"Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel. And at this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Monday, April 29.

While ceasefire negotiations are in progress, Israel keeps targeting civilian households.

On Monday morning, as negotiations between Israel and Hamas were ongoing, Israel flattened at least three homes, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.

Among the dead were nine women and six children, one of them just five days old, according to hospital records and an Associated Press reporter.

"Everyone was sleeping in their beds," said Mahmoud Abu Taha, whose cousin was killed with his wife and their one-year-old baby in the same strike.

Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 34,000 people and injured several thousand more. Scores of corpses are believed to be under the debris.

The war has made around 80 percent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million homeless.