Israel has accepted the framework new deal to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah’s chief foreign policy advisor said on Sunday.
The plan, revealed on Friday by US President Joe Biden, was "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them," Ophir Falk was cited by The Sunday Times as confirming.
He added that, "There are a lot of details to be worked out," and Israel’s conditions regarding "the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization" remain unchanged.
Falk doubled down on the Israeli prime minister's stance that "there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met."
Gaza ceasefire mediators the US, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement that called on both Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement “embodying the principles outlined by President Biden.”
Hamas on Friday said it provisionally welcomed the proposal of US President Joe Biden on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement welcomes idea of the speech of US President Joe Biden ... in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and the exchange of prisoners," the movement said.
"Biden's speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands," senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera.
Biden, whose administration has been playing both sides – shipping weapons to its ally Tel Aviv while seemingly engaged in a flurry of mediatory activity – revealed a new comprehensive proposal to wind down the Gaza war.
Israel has offered a “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages," the US president stated in his Friday press conference.
The proposal, transmitted by Qatar to Hamas, embodies three phases. The first phase would last for six weeks and include a temporary ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages by both sides.
A permanent ceasefire to end to all hostilities would be negotiated during the second phase, which could include the release of all remaining hostages and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza if Israel's security guarantees are satisfied. A major reconstruction plan for Gaza would begin during phase three.
What is seen as a sticking point for realization of the deal is that it implies continued Hamas involvement in the arrangements alongside the mediators. However, at no point has Israel agreed to back down from its goal of eliminating Hamas.
Suffice it to recall the previous ceasefire proposals over the past months, none of which have come to fruition. A February truce mediated to halt fighting by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan that began on March 10 did not materialize.
As for Hamas, it has been insisting that only a permanent ceasefire would ensure the release of all the hostages.
Netanyahu is under pressure from his own coalition government, where both far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party have indicated that they will resign if the proposed plan to end hostilities without destroying Hamas and returning all the hostages is agreed to. The two have the power to dismantle the governing coalition. At the same time, Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party wants the deal to be considered.
While the bargaining continues, an estimated 36,439 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 82,627 wounded since October 7, according to the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that practically no health services remain in Rafah after the al-Helal al-Emirati hospital closed.