Hamas sees a Gaza peace deal “closer than ever” if Israel “stops imposing new conditions”

MADRID Dec. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas believes that a possible peace agreement for Gaza “is closer than ever” if Israel stops adding new terms to the difficult negotiations to end almost a year and a half of devastating conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

“We confirm that the possibility of reaching an agreement is closer than ever if the enemy stops imposing new conditions,” Hamas said after a meeting of its representatives with Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Cairo. (Egypt).

The three factions have agreed on their “enthusiasm” for “stopping the Israeli aggression” against the Gaza Strip and have confirmed important progress on the configuration of the so-called Community Support Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip, the structure policy that they are designing to govern Gaza after the hypothetical end of the war, according to a statement published by the newspaper ‘Filastin’, related to Hamas.

During recent weeks, diplomatic sources have confirmed progress in the negotiations but have clarified that there are still wide differences both on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 by Palestinian militias during the massacre that unleashed this last conflict.

Furthermore, Israel has repeated on countless occasions that it has no intention of Hamas once again assuming full powers of political control in the enclave. The Israeli Army, it should be remembered, has been firmly installed for weeks in an area that covers practically the entire north of the enclave.

Generally speaking, the main issue of contention is the nature of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas demands a permanent end to the fighting, while Israel seeks a temporary pause during which some of the hostages would be released followed by a resumption of its fighting to finish dismantling the military and governance capabilities of the terrorist group, diplomatic sources explained. Arabs to ‘The Times of Israel’ this week.