Cameron urges Hamas to accept ‘generous’ ceasefire deal with Israel
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David Cameron has urged Hamas to accept a “very generous” ceasefire deal with Israel that will allow for the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas had been given “a very generous offer of [a] sustained 40 days ceasefire, the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, in return for the release of these hostages”, Lord Cameron told a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.
“I hope Hamas do take this deal and, frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes of the world should be on them today, saying take that deal,” he said, adding that the proposal would lead to a “stop in the fighting that we all want to see so badly”.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, described the deal as “extraordinarily generous”.
Mr Blinken, who on Monday embarked on a week of shuttle diplomacy, urged the terrorist group, which holds about 133 Israeli hostages in Gaza, to take the deal.
Israel has reportedly cut the number of hostages it wants freed in exchange for a new truce, and negotiations could begin as soon as Tuesday.
Israel had for months demanded at least 40 hostages be released, but was now prepared to settle for 33, Israeli officials told The New York Times.
When confronted with the demand for 40 vulnerable hostages, Hamas previously said it simply did not have that many women, children and elderly people to release.
“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Mr Blinken told a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers in Riyadh on Monday at the start of a round of shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East.
“I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision,” he added.
Mr Blinken also said Hamas needed to decide quickly, in an apparent reference to Israel’s plans to mount an offensive in the densely populated southern city of Rafah in the coming weeks.
He added, however, that Washington still had not seen Israel’s plan to evacuate civilians ahead of the offensive.
The US secretary of state is expected in Israel for Tuesday for talks with Israeli leaders.
After talks on Monday, Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, said he was “hopeful” about the deal offered to Hamas as he said it “has taken into account the positions of both sides and has tried to extract moderation”.
Shortly before Mr Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia, an unnamed senior Hamas official told AFP “the atmosphere is positive” for reaching an agreement unless Israel comes up with unexpected new demands.
A few hours later, however, another Hamas official said that the group had not yet made up its mind about the proposal.
A Hamas delegation was expected to arrive in Cairo later on Monday.
Egypt has emerged as the new chief mediator between Israel and the terrorist group after Qatar stepped back in response to Israel’s criticism of its role in the conflict.
The potential truce talks were given new impetus late last week when reports emerged suggesting Israel was willing to agree to a prolonged ceasefire – a significant shift from its previous position, which favoured maximising military pressure on Hamas.
An unnamed Egyptian official told the Associated Press on Monday that the Israeli officials now appeared to be open to discussing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as part of the second phase of a deal with Hamas.
Israel has previously insisted that it cannot commit to ending the war until Hamas has been destroyed, necessitating an invasion of Rafah, where it says the terror group’s last intact battalions are hiding.
Prominent voices in Israel, however, are beginning to suggest that Israel can finish the war in Gaza without having to go into Rafah.
Over the weekend, Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s most prominent and popular newspapers, urged the government to cancel the Rafah offensive as the evacuation of its 1.4 million residents could not be carried out without the cooperation with Washington, leaving Israel “in a deadlock” and ultimately “defeated in the war”.
Threat to Israeli coalition
The Israeli leadership has been under increasing pressure from the hostages’ families to take any deal on the table. But agreeing to a prolonged ceasefire is fraught with political implications for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The prime minister’s hard-Right coalition partners, including the ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, have threatened to quit the coalition in case of a hostage deal or a possible decision to scrap the operation in the south of Gaza, a move that would trigger a snap election.
In Rafah, several Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 22 people including six women and five children, according to local health officials. One of the children killed in the strikes was reportedly just five days old.
