Report: Hamas wanted to bring injured members out of Gaza Strip
The radical Islamic group Hamas is said to have attempted to bring its own fighters out of the Gaza Strip along with wounded people, foreigners and dual nationals. This was reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the New York Times, both citing an unnamed US official.
The high-ranking official said that Hamas had tried to smuggle its own people out of the Gaza Strip in ambulances via Rafah, thus delaying the evacuation of foreign nationals. Hamas had sent Egypt and the USA a list of the seriously wounded whom it wanted to evacuate along with thousands of foreigners who wanted to leave the Gaza Strip.
US and Egyptian officials discovered that a third of the names were Hamas fighters. This was unacceptable to the representatives of Egypt, the USA and Israel. However, Hamas had initially stuck to presenting lists that included its own fighters. According to the US government, the negotiations with Hamas were conducted indirectly, with the help of Qatari government representatives. Hamas finally gave in. None of the 76 wounded Palestinians who were finally evacuated were Hamas members.
Efforts for a ceasefire
The release of two US hostages from the Gaza Strip earlier this month served as a "pilot project" for the ongoing negotiations to free more hostages, the official also said. "This is an active process with multiple efforts" that is "incredibly difficult, complex and time-consuming."
Any agreement would require "a fairly significant pause in hostilities", the official said, echoing US President Joe Biden's administration's support for "temporary and localized" humanitarian ceasefires. However, Israel had recently rejected a corresponding proposal by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named the release of "our hostages" as a condition for such a ceasefire.
The Rafah border crossing was opened on Wednesday for the first time since the beginning of the war for foreigners and people with dual citizenship as well as the injured. Hundreds of people have since been able to leave the embattled area.
The USA and Egyptian officials were concerned when they found that Hamas had included its fighters in the list of seriously wounded individuals wishing to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, as part of the Israel war. Despite this, direct negotiations for a ceasefire were conducted with Hamas, with Qatari government representatives acting as intermediaries.
Source: www.ntv.de
