Sources close to negotiations said while there has been some compromise, Israel and Hamas remain divided over key issues
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Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Friday he hoped a Gaza truce would be announced “within a few days at the most”, sounding an optimistic note as mediators intensified their search for a deal to pause the war.
“We are making a very sincere and honest effort to have a ceasefire in the strip to save our brothers in Gaza, especially the innocent civilians,” the Egyptian leader told police cadets during a ceremony in Cairo.
“We hope that within a few days at the most we will reach a ceasefire. Let us hope there will be no negative development impacting on the situation.”
On the same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Austria that the US is working with mediators from Egypt and Qatar “intensively” to “bridge the remaining gaps” between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage deal.
Mr Blinken said “conversations are happening now” which would likely “go on into the coming days.”
However, their optimism was not matched by sources familiar with the negotiations, who said that while mediators had been encouraged by some compromises made by Israel and Hamas, they remained divided over the key outstanding issues.
Hamas said on Thursday night that it has handed mediators a set of proposals it described in a statement as a “comprehensive vision” for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza founded on a halt to the “aggression,” delivery of relief aid, the return home of the displaced and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the same night that the Hamas proposals included “unrealistic demands”.
Neither Hamas nor Israel disclosed details of the latest proposals and Mr Netanyahu’s office said it had no comment when contacted by The National on Friday.
Sources said all the available evidence suggests that Mr Netanyahu was in no mood to agree to conditions that would allow Hamas to claim a victory.
The Israeli leader also remains determined to honour his declared war objective to completely destroy Hamas, a target he says can only be achieved if his troops invaded the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where he claims the Palestinian group keeps its remaining military capabilities. Hamas still holds about 130 Israeli hostages.
“In reality, Israel appears unwilling to leave Gaza before all the hostages are freed,” said one of the sources. “Netanyahu has empowered officials from the Mossad [Israel’s spy agency] to negotiate and go back to him with proposals. He has shot them down every time.”
Israel, said the sources, has agreed to a phased withdrawal from Gaza but continues to insist on playing an unrestrained post-war security role in the territory, which Hamas strongly opposes.
However, Israel has offered a compromise on another issue, the sources said.
It has agreed to the unconditional return home of Palestinians displaced by the war, dropping its earlier condition that males between the ages of 18 and 50 would not be allowed to return to northern Israel.
Hamas, on the other hand, has agreed to a six-week pause in the fighting but only on condition that it receives guarantees from the mediators that a permanent ceasefire would follow.
It has also shown flexibility on the number of Palestinian detainees it wants to see walk free from Israeli prisons in exchange for the remaining hostages it holds.
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