Hamas rejects ceasefire proposal from Israel

The leaders of France, Jordan, and Egypt called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in an op-ed published in The Washington Post. The trio said that a two-state solution could bring about lasting peace in the Middle East. “It is the only credible path to guaranteeing peace and security for all, and ensuring that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis ever have to relive the horrors that have befallen them since the Oct. 7 attack,” they wrote. Israel has been facing increasing push back against its military operations in Gaza: On Tuesday, Turkey said that it would impose some export restrictions on Israel until a ceasefire is reached.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that there was a planned date for an incursion into the Gazan city of Rafah, but did not offer further details about when a military operation would be expected. A spokesperson for Hamas questioned why Israel had returned to negotiations in Cairo if it still planned on carrying out an operation in the city. “The success of any negotiations depends on ending the aggression,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera. One analyst has argued that it is clear Israel is not interested agreeing to a deal imminently: “[Netanyahu] wants more time, he wants to go to Rafah, he wants to have something he has failed to achieve so far,” Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, told the outlet.

A representative for Hamas told The New York Times that Israel’s ceasefire proposals omitted concessions that were previously offered, and that while the militant organization had seen some headway on allowing displaced Palestinians to return to the enclave’s north, not enough movement had been made for Hamas to accept a deal. Israeli officials have said that they are working towards a truce, but Hamas disagreed: “We believe that Netanyahu does not want to reach an agreement and this is why he keeps changing the wording of each offer,” the representative told the Times.