Gaza Cease Fire Deal. May 2024.
What is the Gaza Cease-Fire Deal?
The Palestinian group, Hamas, has agreed to an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, even though Israel has not.
This has happened 7 months after Hamas invaded Israel, on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,400 people, and kidnapping over 240 Israeli and other foreign nationals, of which a number were subsequently killed, and a number were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Approximately 100 are believed to be still alive in captivity.
In the days after this attack, Hamas said that it wanted to exchange the hostages for the over 6,000 prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The May 2024 Cease-fire deal, according to HAMAS.
Phase 1:
Temporary cessation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel.
Withdrawal of Israeli forces back towards the border.
Israeli airplanes and drones would stop flying over Gaza for 10 hours each day, and for an extra 2 hours on the days that Israeli captives are released.
In this first phase, Hamas will gradually release 33 hostages, or their remains. These hostages will be females, and some males under 19 or over 50.
In exchange, Hamas requires Israel to release 30 Palestinians that have been imprisoned, for each civilian hostage released, and 50 for hostages classed as soldiers.
Phase 2:
In the second phase of the deal, there would be a permanent end to military operations and
A full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a permanent end to military operations.
There would also be another prisoner swap, this time involving All the remaining Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza will be released in return for an as-yet unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.
Phase 3:
An exchange of the remains of captives and prisoners held by both sides.
An end to the Israeli blockade of the enclave.
A three-to-five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza.
The Israeli Prime Minister said that the deal fell short of Israel’s demands, but that he would send a delegation to Cairo to meet the negotiators.
This Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire deal appears to suit HAMAS in preference to the Israeli requirements.
What does Israel require for a ceasefire?
The unconditional release of the hostages?
Prior to 7 October 2023, the border between Gaza and Israel had been quiet, with Israel permitting 30,000 Gazans to enter Israel every day in order to allow for better economic opportunity, for those living in Gaza.
This ended after the HAMAS attack.
Hamas appears to want that back.
The Israeli Prime Minister has previously said that “calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism.”
He has also stated that there will be no ceasefire, or general ceasefire in Gaza, without the release of the hostages.
The Hamas decision to launch their killing and kidnapping attack on Israel in October 2023, resulted in Israel’s determination to free Gaza from Hamas, potentially paving the way for a peaceful existence for Israeli’s and Palestinians.
Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas leader, praised the slaughter and kidnapping of israeli civilians, and vowed that HAMAS would repeat similar assaults many times in the future.
His words translated to: “We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice and three times. The Al-Aqsa Deluge is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth.”
“Al-Aqsa Deluge” is the name that Hamas gave to its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
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