The announcement by Hamas on Monday that it had accepted terms of a cease-fire added to the uncertainty that began over the weekend, when officials said that the armed group and Israel had reached an impasse after months of talks.
As if to underscore that the fighting would continue, Hamas militants on Sunday launched rockets from Rafah, their last stronghold in Gaza, killing four Israeli soldiers. The following morning, Israel ordered people to evacuate from some areas in Rafah, a clear sign the military intended to soon begin a long-anticipated invasion of the crowded city. On Monday night, the Israeli military said it was carrying out “targeted strikes” on what it called “terror targets in eastern Rafah.”
Hours later, Hamas suddenly announced that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had accepted a cease-fire proposal based on a plan proffered by Egypt and Qatar, which have been mediating the negotiations with Israel. The terms Hamas had agreed to were not immediately clear, but a senior Israeli official quickly said that the terms were not those that Israel had agreed to.
While Israel and its main ally, the United States, said they were reviewing the proposal Hamas had agreed to, the public statements by the two sides in the war suggest that they remain far apart on key issues needed to reach a truce. Here is a look at those differences.
Hamas wants a permanent cease-fire. Israel wants a temporary truce.
The two sides are stuck on a fundamental question: will this cease-fire be a temporary pause to allow an exchange of hostages for prisoners or a long-term end to the fighting that would leave Hamas in power?
Israel insists on a temporary cease-fire, saying it will keep fighting afterward with the eventual aim of toppling Hamas’s rule in Gaza. Hamas demands a permanent cease-fire and vows to remain in power there.
In November, the two sides agreed to a weeklong truce during which 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. But Hamas has conditioned the release of any more hostages on an Israeli commitment to ending the war. (There are about 100 hostages believed to still be alive, and Hamas is also holding the remains of another 30 or so who have died, using their return for burial as another bargaining chip.)
To solve this problem, mediators have come up with a three-stage cease-fire. During the first phase, up to 33 of the remaining hostages would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. More would be released during the second phase, during which Israel would release more prisoners and commit to a sustained end to the fighting, officials familiar with the talks said.
But Israeli leaders have also vowed to conduct a major military operation in Rafah against Hamas’s forces they believe to be fortified there. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will invade Rafah with or without a cease-fire deal.
Hamas wants Israel to withdraw all its forces, but Israel says it must maintain control of security in Gaza.
Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza after previous conflicts with Hamas in 2014 and 2009, but this time, Israeli leaders say it’s not so simple.
During the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, Palestinian gunmen overwhelmed communities and military bases near Gaza, killing an estimated 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli leaders have pledged to do whatever it takes to ensure such an assault can never happen again, and they say that means maintaining the Israeli military’s freedom to operate in Gaza.
Israeli forces have also demolished many buildings inside Gaza’s border area to create a buffer zone with Israel, prompting international criticism.
In public, at least, Hamas has rejected a long-term Israeli military presence in the Palestinian enclave, including a buffer zone. In March, a senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, said the group was willing to accept a phased Israeli retreat as part of a prospective cease-fire deal, as long as Israel committed to ultimately withdrawing entirely from the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Netanyahu’s political calculations complicate his government’s ability to reach an agreement.
Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly said he is committed to bringing home the hostages held in Gaza, but his political survival depends on far-right allies in his governing coalition who oppose the current proposed deal.
Two of those allies — the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir — have denounced the proposed agreement, saying it amounts to a Hamas victory. They have called for Israeli forces to immediately begin a ground operation in Rafah.
Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition holds 64 seats out of 120 in Israel’s parliament, meaning any defections could endanger his premiership and pave the way for elections.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, has said he would back Mr. Netanyahu in order to pass a deal that brings hostages home to Israel. But that would leave Mr. Netanyahu totally dependent on some of his harshest critics in the opposition — a political alliance unlikely to last long.
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