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Hamas and Israeli negotiators are engaged in “serious” talks in Cairo on the latest Gaza ceasefire proposals but an agreement may prove elusive once again, sources told The National on Thursday.
They said the proposals, presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, provided for a truce lasting five to seven years, the release of the remaining 59 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees in Israel, and an end to 18 months of conflict in the enclave.
The proposals also include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for Hamas agreeing to lay down its arms but not surrender them.
Hamas, said the sources, has agreed to lay down its arms during the truce years but it was unclear whether that specific proposal meets Israel's declared goal of disarming the group and fully ending its governance and military capabilities.
Hamas has already accepted its exclusion from Gaza's postwar administration and reconstruction.
Another point of contention is Hamas's demand that Israel hands back the body of the group's late leader Yahya Al Sinwar, who was killed in Gaza last year.
The two sides are also at odds over Israel's demand that senior Hamas officials leave Gaza and live in exile, said the sources, who quoted Algeria as the most likely destination for them to go but did not specify the points of contention.
“The negotiators from both Hamas and Israel are having serious and earnest discussions on the proposals, but that may not be enough to produce an agreement any time soon,” said one source.
“At the end, Israel will not agree to withdraw from Gaza and is likely to insist that it holds on to the buffer zones it has created in Gaza.”
The sources said Israel was also opposed to the release of several prominent Palestinians serving life sentences in its jails following their conviction in security-related cases.
The Hamas and Israeli negotiators are also at odds over the mechanisms for implementing an agreement, including the date on which it goes into effect, said the sources.
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators brokered a ceasefire in January. It expired on March 1 but the enclave remained relatively quiet until March 18 when Israel resumed air strikes and ground operations.
Israel halted all aid deliveries to Gaza as of March 2, worsening a humanitarian crisis for Gaza's 2.3 million residents.
The Gaza war has to date left at least 51,355 Palestinians dead and more than twice that number wounded, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, and laid to waste most of the territory's built-up areas.
