Hamas indicates ceasefire deal is close, if Israel ‘stops adding new conditions’

Hamas said on Tuesday that it believes ceasefire talks have been productive enough for a ceasefire to be agreed, but only if Israel does not impose further conditions. 

“The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirms that in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place in Doha today, under the auspices of the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, reaching an agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation stops adding new conditions,” the group said in a statement. 

The comments echo reporting from Monday by Middle East Eye that among the factors that led to a breakthrough in the Cairo-based talks is last month’s ceasefire in Lebanon, which provided a blueprint for a similar ceasefire in Gaza.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also told Fox News on Tuesday that the deal is “getting closer”.

“We believe – and the Israelis have said this – that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that,” he said. 

“But we also are cautious in our optimism,” he added. “We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line.”

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 45,000 people, most of the population has been driven from their homes multiple times and hundreds of thousands are at risk of famine.

While the Reuters news agency initially reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was personally on his way to Cairo – suggesting that a deal was well past the negotiation stage – Netanyahu’s office has now denied that claim, with one Egyptian source telling Israeli newspaper Haaretz that no such visit had been planned. 

Any potential deal likely involves significant concessions from Hamas, given the Israeli assassinations of its senior military and political leadership, and Israel’s incessant air strikes on Gaza for 14 months which have reduced much of the strip to rubble and ash. 

The proposal now being discussed is not a permanent ceasefire, but a 60-day pause in hostilities, officials have said.

Hamas will also likely have to agree to Israel occupying the northernmost third of Gaza, which has been cut off from the rest of the strip for nearly three months. The group still maintains, however, that forcibly displaced Palestinians from the north should have the right to return to their homes there. 

For his part, Netanyahu has refused to shift from his goal of “eradicating” Hamas from Gaza and ensuring that it can never again govern the strip.

Military control of Gaza

Israel’s defence minister on Tuesday said its military plans to exercise indefinite control over Gaza even after “defeating Hamas”.

In a post made on X, Israel Katz said his government would “have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action just as it did in Judea and Samaria”, using the Israeli name for the occupied West Bank. 

“We will not allow a return to the reality of before 7 October,” he added. 

His comments came as Israeli daily Ynet reported that the military plans to maintain a presence in areas it currently occupies to prevent displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza.

The report said this meant that Israel was adopting the controversial “Generals’ Plan”, also known as the Eiland Plan, which would leave the area’s security under Israeli military control.

Human rights activists and experts have warned against the Israeli assault in northern Gaza, saying that it is “genocidal” and a “perversion of law”.