Hamas Wants Changes

The latest offer from the US is accepted by Israel, but Hamas thinks the deal favors Israel too much as we hear from a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Hamas said Thursday it does not accept the outline of US envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposed ceasefire and hostage deal at face value and demands certain changes, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hamas didn’t mince words about the proposal:

Hamas feels deceived by the US administration, believing it has been “screwed over” with a pro-Israel proposal that does not guarantee an end to the war, an informed source familiar told The Jerusalem Post.

Sources report that these details are on the table which don’t agree with an Arab news report:

The information provided by the sources conflicts with reports published in Saudi newspaper Al-Hadath, which indicated that Hamas will shortly agree to a 60 day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18. As part of the proposal, the report claimed that 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 prisoners arrested after October 7, would also be released, and aid would be increased to the Gaza Strip.

And then the offer allegedly has this poison pill in it:

The proposal also requires all hostages to be returned to Israel within a week, leaving Hamas without further leverage, the source said.

If true I can see why Hamas is upset:

Hamas said the new proposal was more biased in favor of Israel than previous proposals, and that Witkoff accepted most of the demands presented by Ron Dermer in a meeting with him on Tuesday, a source close to Hamas told Walla.

Hamas added that they aren’t happy about more of the deal:

Furthermore, the new proposal does not provide a clear American guarantee that the temporary ceasefire will lead to a permanent one, the source said. The proposal does not specify that if negotiations extend beyond 60 days, the ceasefire will also continue, and Israel will not be able to unilaterally violate it as it did in March, Walla quoted the source as saying.

From the Israeli side they dispute the reports swirling around:

According to a senior Israeli official, “Contrary to reports, the Witkoff agreement proposed in recent days did not determine the new deployment line of the IDF, nor the manner in which aid would be distributed within the framework of a ceasefire.”

Reviewing It Responsibly

Trying to sound like the sane ones in the room Hamas released a statement about the offer:

Hamas said in a statement: “The Hamas Movement’s leadership has received the new Witkoff proposal from the mediators and is reviewing it responsibly to serve the interests of our people, provide them relief, and achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

They pretty much stated that the deal must change before they will agree to it:

Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim later added, "The agreement that Israel agreed to does not meet our demands. The Hamas leadership is responsibly considering its response to Witkoff’s proposal."

The Post report gave us these details that don’t sound like something Israel would agree to so I’m a little confused:

The new proposal would include the release of 10 living hostages along with 18 deceased. The hostage release would take place in two rounds, a source told the Post.

Additionally, both sides would agree to a 60-day ceasefire that can be extended after the deadline if Hamas and Israel agree.

And it is this information that I can’t see Israel doing:

Lastly, the IDF would withdraw from areas in Gaza, and the United Nations would take over the distribution of humanitarian aid, the source said.

Hamas didn’t like the Israeli response, either:

The Israeli response to the Gaza ceasefire offer presented by US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has failed to meet Hamas' demands, the group's senior official Basim Naim told Reuters on Thursday.

"The Witkoff proposal was still under discussion," he added.

For one thing, Hamas will never release all the hostages without a guarantee that the war will end with them still in Gaza. And I cannot see Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war cabinet leaving areas they have just taken back in the deal and letting Hamas survive period. I have been wrong before on how these deals will go and I would be very surprised if this one pans out. Trust me when I tell you that getting more hostages back is a good thing and it very well could be the only way Israel agrees to another ceasefire. But the political dynamics has changed now that the hostage families are against this deal because it doesn’t see all the hostages released. The one thing we do know is both sides aren’t close on key parts of the deal and Hamas has few if any leverage left now that humanitarian aid isn’t being done by them. Pray that Israel keeps taking back ground, moves Gazans to the south and then hammers Hamas into oblivion. And I pray God will help rescue the remaining living hostages.