🔗 Share this article

Hamas's conditional approval toward the US president's Gaza ceasefire agreement last Friday was welcomed internationally and is the closest the two warring sides have come in two years toward stopping the fighting in Gaza.

How Close Is a Deal?

The Palestinian faction's qualified support of the US proposal marks the nearest negotiators have reached over the last several months to a comprehensive end of the conflict inside the Gaza Strip. However, they remain far off from a deal.

The US president's multi-point plan to end the conflict stipulates that Hamas free every captive in three days, surrender ruling power to a cross-border body chaired by Donald Trump, and disarm. As compensation, Israel would step-by-step withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip and release over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

This agreement would also bring an increase of relief supplies into Gaza, parts of which are facing starvation, and reconstruction funds to the region, which has been almost entirely decimated.

Hamas only agreed on three items: the freeing of all hostages, the handing over of power and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The group declared the remaining parts of the deal should be negotiated alongside additional Palestinian factions, as it is a component of a joint national approach.

Effectively, this implies Hamas wants further negotiations regarding the more difficult aspects of the Trump deal, specifically the request for its disarmament, and a definite timetable on Israel’s withdrawal.

When and Where Will Talks Occur?

Delegates have flown to Cairo to finalize specifics to close the gap between Israel and Hamas.

Discussions will start on Monday and are expected to bring results in the coming days, regardless of the outcome.

Trump shared an image of a map of Gaza on Saturday night depicting the line to which Israeli troops should withdraw stating if Hamas agreed to it, that the ceasefire would begin right away. Donald Trump is keen to stop the conflict as it approaches to its two year mark and before the Nobel committee declares the recipient of the peace prize on 10 October, which is a frequently mentioned obsession of his.

The Israeli prime minister announced a deal to secure the return of Israeli hostages back home should preferably happen in the coming days.

What Gaps Remain?

Both Hamas and Israel have been cautious their positions going into negotiations.

Hamas has repeatedly declined to lay down its arms in past negotiations. It has given no word on if its position has changed regarding this issue, even as it principally agrees to the US proposal, with conditions. Trump and Israel have emphasized that there is limited flexibility regarding the disarmament demand and are determined to pin Hamas down with binding language in any plan going forward.

The militant faction also said it agreed to surrendering authority in Gaza to an expert-led governing force, as outlined by the Trump plan. But, in its announcement, Hamas specified it would accept a Gaza-based technocratic governing body, rather than the global authority that Trump laid out in the proposal.

Israel has also tried to keep the matter of its troop withdrawal ambiguous. Just hours following the announcement of Trump’s plan in a joint press conference in the US capital last week, Netanyahu released a video reassuring the Israeli public that soldiers would remain across much of Gaza.

Last Saturday evening, Netanyahu again repeated that forces would remain in Gaza, saying that captives would be returned while the Israel Defense Forces would stay within Gaza's interior.

Netanyahu’s position seemingly stands with the stipulation in Trump’s plan that Israeli forces fully withdraw from the territory. Hamas will seek guarantees that Israeli forces will completely leave and that if Hamas surrenders its weapons, Israeli forces will not return to Gaza.

Mediators will have to close these gaps, securing clear, strict language on disarmament from the group. They must also show to the faction that the Israeli government will truly pull out from Gaza and that there will be global assurances that will force Israel to adhere to the terms of the agreement.

The disagreements might be resolved, and the US will undoubtedly push both parties to achieve an agreement. Nevertheless, negotiations have got close to an agreement before abruptly failing several times in the past two years, leaving both parties wary of celebrating before a final signing.