Egypt's blueprint for ending the war still under discussion

Gaza war - Egypt's blueprint for ending the war still under discussion

According to a media report, a proposal by Egypt to end the Gaza war is not yet off the table despite intransigent statements by both warring parties. As the "Wall Street Journal" reported on Wednesday night, Israel's war cabinet has forwarded Egypt's proposal for a gradual end to the war against the Islamist Hamas to a larger group of ministers for consideration. A delegation from the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is also expected to travel to Cairo shortly to discuss Egypt's proposal as well. Hamas is not part of the PLO.

Both Israel and Hamas have recently made it clear that they want to continue fighting. In a guest article for the newspaper on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the destruction of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza as a condition for peace. However, he is under increasing domestic political pressure to secure the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

During a ceasefire lasting several days at the end of November, 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians. Israel is prepared to discuss the first phase of the Egyptian proposal, which provides for the release of further hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a renewed ceasefire, the newspaper quoted Danny Danon, a senior member of Netanyahu's Likud party, as saying.

Hamas rejected a temporary new ceasefire on Monday and called for a permanent ceasefire. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' PLO also initially declared that it had rejected Egypt's proposal after seeing parts of it, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, it now wants to discuss the draft in Cairo. Abbas heads the secular Fatah faction in the PLO. Fatah and Hamas are rivals.

According to a recent report in the newspaper, however, exiled representatives of the Hamas politburo have been holding talks with their Palestinian rivals - behind the backs of the Hamas leadership fighting in Gaza - about an end to the war. The USA, as Israel's ally, is backing a revitalized and reshaped Palestinian Authority for the period after the Gaza war.

Egypt's proposal envisages a national Palestinian dialog under the auspices of Egypt in a later phase. The aim is to "end the division" and form a technocratic government. The passage refers to the rivalry between Fatah and Hamas. Officials in Israel consider it unlikely that Israel would agree to an agreement that would grant Hamas a role in Gaza after the end of the war, wrote theWall Street Journal.

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1. Despite the intransigent statements from both warring parties, Egypt's proposal for ending the Gaza war, proposed to terminate the conflict, remains under consideration by Israel's war cabinet.
2. As reported in the "Wall Street Journal", the Egyptian proposal includes a gradual end to the war against Hamas, with a focus on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a renewed ceasefire.
3. During the ceasefire at the end of November, 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians, and Israel is now open to discussing the first phase of the Egyptian proposal.
4. Despite initially rejecting Egypt's proposal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' PLO now wants to discuss the draft in Cairo, as they seek a permanent end to the Gaza conflict.
5. Exiled representatives of Hamas' politburo have been holding talks with their Palestinian rivals, suggesting a potential shift in Hamas' stance towards ending the war.
6. The Wall Street Journal reported that officials in Israel consider it unlikely that they would agree to an agreement that would grant Hamas a role in Gaza after the end of the war.
7. Egypt's proposal envisions a national Palestinian dialog under the auspices of Egypt in a later phase, aimed at ending the division and forming a technocratic government, which would involve negotiating between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo.

Source: www.stern.de