Hamas announced on Saturday, March 29 that it accepted a new Egyptian proposal to resume the truce in Gaza. The proposal stipulates releasing five living Israeli captives from Gaza, including the US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander, handing over the bodies of a number of dead captives, and a cessation of hostilities for 50 days.
Congratulating Palestinians on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip Khalil al-Hayya delivered a televised speech on Saturday. Al-Hayya asserted in his speech that the movement has not requested anything but “respecting what was agreed upon in the signed deal, and what was guaranteed by mediators and acknowledged by the international community.”
The senior Hamas official reaffirmed that the movement has dealt with all proposed offers with “responsibility and positivity” for the sake of maintaining the interest of the Palestinian people.
“We received a proposal by our brethren mediators in Egypt and Qatar two days ago. We dealt with it with positivity, and accepted it. We hope that the [Israeli Occupation] will not disrupt it or abort the mediators’ efforts,” Al-Hayya said.
However, Israel said on Saturday evening that it received the proposal from mediating countries and made a counter-proposal after rejecting it. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified that the counter-proposal was made after a series of consultations and in “full coordination” with the United States.
In its counter-offer, Israel insisted on the return of 10 or 11 living Israeli captives to resume the ceasefire, based on a previous proposal brought forward by the US “Middle East” envoy Steve Witkoff.
Netanyahu seeks political survival through endless war: says Israeli journalist
The last few weeks saw a surge in polarization over Netanyahu’s policies especially after he declared his intention to dismiss the chief of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) Ronen Bar.
The polarization widened on March 23, after the Israeli cabinet passed a no-confidence motion against Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara as a prelude to fire her.
The move was slammed as part of Netanyahu’s efforts to curb the independence of the judiciary and purge officials, whom he considers as “disloyal”.
Netanyahu’s latest controversial decisions against top state officials along with his obstruction of a captives-for-prisoners swap deal induced the largest anti-government protests since Israel launched its genocidal aggression on Gaza in 2023.
On Monday, March 31, Netanyahu was summoned by Israeli police to provide his testimony as part of a probe of what was dubbed by Israeli media as “Qatargate scandal”.
The Qatargate probe investigates allegations against two top aides to Netanyahu, who were accused of receiving money from Qatar for orchestrating or being involved in a campaign to improve the image of the Gulf country abroad.
As the scandal has aggravated his political impasse, Netanyahu appeared in a video after being questioned by police, dismissing the investigations as a “political witch hunt”.
It is worth noting that the Israeli Prime Minister has also faced three separate cases of corruption since 2019, which include accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Netanyahu appeared before court for 20 times to respond to the corruption charges, the last of which was on Monday.
The Israeli premier has seemingly chosen to perpetuate the war in Gaza and other parts of the region including Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen as his last resort. By doing so, he is trying to guarantee a sustained authoritarian rule despite the growing opposition against his government and his countless legal and political dilemmas.
According to Israeli journalist Amos Harel, “Netanyahu’s true objective appears increasingly clear: a gradual slide toward an authoritarian-style regime, whose survival he will try to secure through perpetual war on multiple fronts.”
