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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / We Appear to Have a Deal! Hamas Has Indicated They Accept the Terms of the Truce/Ceasefire Proposal

We Appear to Have a Deal! Hamas Has Indicated They Accept the Terms of the Truce/Ceasefire Proposal

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We here at Balloon Juice interrupt your long holiday weekend or just regular Friday to bring you this breaking news!

From Reuters:

Fromย The Times of Israel:

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call earlier today that his opposition party will โ€œprovide full backing to any responsible deal that will lead to the return of the hostages,โ€ his office says in a statement.

Netanyahu is likely to face pushback to the current hostage deal on the table from within his own coalition.

Gantz took his National Unity party out of the coalition last month over disagreements with the way the premier has been handling the Israel-Hamas war, claiming Netanyahu was prioritizing his own political survival over securing a hostage agreement.

Yair Golan, the new head of Israel’s Labor Party, which as of last week officially merged with the Meretz Party to form the new Democrats Party, had this to say:

This is not just a deal for the return of the abductees – it is a proposal to save the State of Israel.

The business we are engaged in during these hours is really not only about returning the kidnapped and stopping the lawlessness of our loved ones. This is a deal that will lead to the cessation of fighting in Gaza and, as a result, with a very high probability, also to the cessation of fighting in the north. This is an important and correct deal for Israel at this time.

The IDF needs rehabilitation time. Our girls and boys have been at war for nine months and after two hundred days of the Eighth Order. The refugees have not yet returned home and whole swathes of land are waiting for rehabilitation.

Israel needs deep and thorough learning of lessons and above all to restore fundamental trust in its elected officials and the heads of our security systems.

The IDF and the other security arms achieved great achievements. The price is unbelievable. The pain is terrible. It’s time to regroup.

The war on terror will not stop, but it must be done under conditions favorable to Israel, under a leadership that has a renewed public mandate and under a new security leadership.

Yes to the deal. Yes to Israel.

Nothing posted yet from Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid Party other than what Noga Tarnopolsky reported.

This all sounds much more promising than anything that’s been reported so far, but we now have to wait and see what actually develops over the rest of the day.

Should this reporting turn out to be accurate, I would normally expect it to reflect positively on President Biden and his administration. Given what we’ve seen over the past week, as well as “Nuzzigate” and I’ve no idea what will actually happen.

Provided there is a deal, I’ll briefly update about it during tonight’s Ukraine war update.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled lives.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

55Comments

  3. 3.

    TaMara

    Our media is not useless, it’s complicit in the end of Democracy.ย  Let’sย  notย  letย  themย  doย  thisย  again. We Appear to Have a Deal! Hamas Has Indicated They Accept the Terms of the Truce/Ceasefire Proposal

  4. 4.

    Captain C

    I really hope this is true, and that it’s the start of a lasting peace process.ย  Mostly for the benefit of those suffering under this war, and also a bit because maybe we can finally see the back of Rotten Bibi and his extremist supporters.

    Again, wonderful news if this is true.

    And Adam, thanks for this and all you do on Ukraine, even if I can hardly read those posts anymore out of frustration with the Blob and its risk aversion.

  5. 5.

    Ken

    “BIDEN CAVES TO STUDENT PROTESTORS”

    “Peace deal widely seen by unnamed sources as reason he should drop out”

    (Any bets as to which media outlet will go there first?)

  6. 6.

    Old Man Shadow

    I hope this goes through.

    I’m still pessimistic about the future of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank given Israel’s continued annexations of their lands.

    And I don’t trust Netanyahu at all. If he told me the sky was blue, I’d get a second and third opinion before I started to believe it.

    But stopping the senseless slaughter and getting innocent people home would be a great thing.

  7. 7.

    Kay

    Thank God. Great news.

    And thanks, Adam. I find this much more credible since you believe it and you have been very hard headed and a realist about this.

    Fingers crossed it sticks.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Wonderful news, if true. Thanks so much for sharing this, Adam! Fingers crossed very hard ๐Ÿซฐ๐Ÿซฐ๐Ÿซฐ๐Ÿซฐ๐Ÿซฐ

  10. 10.

    jowriter

    This is such good news. ย May the deal prove effective and enduring. ย Thanks for posting!

  11. 11.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kay: Given that Lapid, Gantz, and Golan have all made statements, I think that lends credibility. We’ll see what happens.

  14. 14.

    Captain C

    @Ken: “Why I totally didn’t have my family paper this august institution attack Biden, and why I was totally right to do so.”ย  —ย  Pinch the Lesser (hopefully on Pitchbot and not the actual FTFNYT editorial page).

  16. 16.

    YY_Sima Qian

    This is genuine good news, as momentum to a 6 week ceasefire seems to be more real this time!

    I am a bit surprised that Hamas is willing to give up all of its leverage in the form of all of the hostages w/o an Israeli commitment to a permanent ceasefire. Then again, if there is a 6 week ceasefire, I image the pressure on both Hamas (from Gazans & on Iran) & Israel (from everyone including the US) to make it permanent would be overwhelming. Furthermore, Hamas has taken a lot of losses & will take more as long as Israel wages war in Gaza, & the IDF & the Israeli economy are stretched to the brink by the costs of the war & the opportunity cost of the lengthy mobilization.

    If a 6 week ceasefire can be reached, & Hezbollah also ceases the attacks into Israel, then an [extremely risky & costly] Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon would be politically & geopolitically untenable. Presumably the Houthis would also cease their direct attacks on Israel & dial down their attacks on select civilian shipping transiting the Red Sea. There is no military solution to Hamas, Hezbollah & the Houthis, Gaza (& Palestine) is a political problem requiring political solutions.

    There many ways for this fall apart, either getting to a 6 week ceasefire or a permanent one. Israel could find Hamas’ demand of no foreign troops in Gaza post-war unacceptable. The security cabinet could decide to try to “finish off” Hamas once the remain hostages are recovered after the temporary ceasefire. Hamas’ political branch could fail to control Sinwar & the military branch. Hamas could fail to deliver all of the remaining hostages. Bibi or his far right coalition partners could scupper the negotiations during either stage. Even after a “permanent” ceasefire, Israel/Hamas/Hezbollah/Houthis/Iran could come to blows again a year or more down the time.

    Sustained peace also requires political solution – a viable Palestinian state in the WB + Gaza, the prospects of which Bibi’s government just made even more remote by accelerating ethnic cleansing & oppression of Palestinians in the WB, & the largest land grab in decades.

  17. 17.

    p.a.

    *klink*. *klank* *rattle* *sproing* Netanyahu: “where’s that goddamned wrench?”

     

    Fingers crossed I’m wrong.

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kay: I don’t trust Bibi. I don’t trust Sinwar. And I don’t trust the extremists like Ben Gvir and Smotrich that Bibi has enabled. But the IDF senior leadership has gone into full public revolt in the Israeli press that their forces are exhausted. They cannot maintain their optempo in Gaza, have no ability to really undertake a campaign against Hezbullah even if that was necessary, and they can’t bring the hostages home one rescue at a time.

    I expect that if this goes through it won’t last. I expect, that like last November, Sinwar doesn’t have control over all the hostages. And unfortunately, less than 50% are still alive. The vast majority of Israelis oppose a two state solution. I expect that when the remains of hostages, rather than living hostages, start returning in large numbers, grief will turn to rage. And that is what Bibi would like to have happen.

  20. 20.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Adam L Silverman: Damn! You are right, this feels like Bibi’s (frankly very creative, if extraordinarily cynical) plan to get out of his current jam & try to survive longer in his PM-ship, & not get blamed for resumption of hostilities (not if the Israelis are clamoring for revenge again).

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    Thanks for good news, Adam.

    I’m sorry I can’t visit the Ukraine threads very much. My psyche can’t take it.

  23. 23.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @YY_Sima Qian: I am a bit surprised that Hamas is willing to give up all of its leverage in the form of all of the hostages w/o an Israeli commitment to a permanent ceasefire

    It’s not impossible that they are getting a lot of pressure from their Muslim donors on how does war without end ease the suffering of the Palestinians.

    I would think if I was Muslim supporter of the Palestinians I would much more prefer Biden as the US president, who will at lest make a vague effort to reign Israel in, rather that Trump who will simply egg Israel on, because it makes for good TV.

  25. 25.

    Jackie

    ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    Thanks Adam.

    Any movement towards halting hostilities is welcome and I’ll believe it when it actually happens, and not a second sooner.

  29. 29.

    cain

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I’ve read reports of Palestinians growing tired of Hamas. I think they are reaching the limit of this situation that was completely started by Hamas.

    If so, that’s big because Hamas controls Gaza with an iron band and I suspect anybody speaking ill would have bad things happen to them.

  31. 31.

    Mousebumples

    Thank you for posting this, Adam! Appreciate all your work to keep us updated and informed – cutting through mis- and dis-information really is helpful.

  33. 33.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yeah, the political branch is probably getting a lot of pressure from Qatar & Tรผrkiye, but can they control Sinwar & the military branch?

    Not sure Iran is necessarily interested in the War in Gaza ending so quickly, given how much it is stressing Israel in all respects, & making an ground offensive against Hezbollah (its much more important partner in the region) all but impossible for Israel to pull off.

  34. 34.

    JPL

    @zhena gogolia: It hurts to listen to magas preach their brand of white nationalism and know that they re willing to let Putin murder innocent children.ย  ย  Like you, I only visit occasionally.

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    WaPo has a small article up, fairly far down on their front page. As of five minutes ago, nothing on the FTFNYT or CNN sites. Havenโ€™t checked anything else so far.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    @YY_Sima Qian: I think Russia would also like to see this war continue, but they do not have the leverage that Iran has.

    There was a development today relating to the civil war in neighboring Syria: Turkish President Erdogan says he will invite Syrian President Assad to Turkiye to try to work out their two countries’ conflict in Syria. Erdogan said this at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan where he hsd a long sidelines meeting with Putin.

    Ragip Soylu covers this in aย Middle East Eyeย article:

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/erdogan-plans-invite-syrias-assad-turkiye

    Sorry, the link won’t work.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    BBC has nothing about this on the web yet, but did just post an article on settlement expansion.

    Palestinian officials have condemnedย a dramatic new settlement driveย by Israel in the occupied West Bank which includes retroactively authorising three outposts.
    The move is set to further stoke tensions in the territory which has seen a surge in violence since the war in Gaza began on 7 October.
    Palestinians claim the West Bank as part of their hoped-for future state. Settlements are widely seen as illegal under international law although Israel disagrees.
    The three unauthorised outposts that have now been legalised under Israeli law were described as new neighbourhoods of existing settlements. They are in sensitive areas in the Jordan Valley and near the southern city of Hebron.
    In addition, the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Thursday that Israeli authorities had approved or advanced plans for 5,295 homes in dozens of settlements.
    It also emerged this week that the Israeli governmentโ€™s Higher Planning Council had approved the largest seizure of West Bank land in over three decades.
    Some 12,700 dunams (5 sq miles) has been seized in the Jordan Valley and declared as Israeli state land. This year has marked a peak in the extent of declarations of state land with a total of 23,700 dunams affected.

    Nothing promotes peace quite like a friendly thumb in the eye.

  39. 39.

    kindness

    Yeay!?!ย  I mean, good.ย  I’m glad.ย  Seems to me though that until Israel incorporates some sort of Marshall Plan to rebuild Gaza (and the West Bank) things won’t get better.ย  Honestly I’d like to see the West Bank and Gaza incorporated into Israel with all the Palestinians voting citizens.ย  That won’t ever happen since that would make Israeli Jews a minority group in Israel.ย  ย Me?ย  I think Israeli Jewish folk should embrace it just like I am , a NY raised WASP, embracing becoming a minority in this country.

    I do get that most people don’t share my views.ย  Too bad too.

  41. 41.

    Geminid

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think this story will get too much attention until the ceasefire begins. Although, the decision by the Israeli government will be a big story when that happens. It sounds like the entire Knesset will vote on the truce, but maybe it will be just the Cabinet and the opposition leaders are offering Netanyahu support in the Knesset.

  43. 43.

    cain

    I was reading that the Palestinians have started to get unhappy with Hamas and there has been agitation. I think Hamas is losing support in Gaza as this continues. I can imagine not feeling a bit resentful that literally the population is getting killed while they hide behind the population. They look like cowards even to the Palestinians.

    ETA – Thanks Adam for this great update and the work you put into it. It’s nice to get some hopeful news.

  44. 44.

    Adam L Silverman

    From the very well sourced and accurate Arab-Israeli reporter Roi Kais:

    Senior Hamas official in Lebanon Osama Hamdan told AFP that the organization expects a quick response from Israel regarding the cease-fire proposal, according to him “probably today or tomorrow morning.” Hamdan said that there were no new concrete proposals in the document sent to Israel this week, but some new ideas were proposed in order to overcome Israel’s reservations. Hamdan added that if the Israeli reaction is positive, they will deal with the ideas in detail and begin discussing them – which should not take long

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    And we already appear to have Bibi trying to ratfuck the agreement:

    ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿšจ Israel to mediators: oppose Hamas’s demand for a written commitment by the US, Qatar and Egypt to negotiate without a time limit on the second phase of the deal. The details are in my article on
    @WallaNews

    https://news.walla.co.il/item/3675671?utm_source=Generalshare&utm_medium=sharebuttonapp&utm_term=social&utm_content=general&utm_campaign=socialbutton

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The vast majority of Israelis oppose a two state solution. I expect that when the remains of hostages, rather than living hostages, start returning in large numbers, grief will turn to rage. And that is what Bibi would like to have happen.

    Well, they can blame the man they elected for using the hostages as human shields to protect his own ass. He should be in prison. Of course, I can hardly judge Israelis for that given that we have degenerate white collar criminals running around loose too.
    I want to get tough on crime. White collar crime. Zero tolerance.

  52. 52.

    Adam L Silverman

    Given that this is an official statement from Bibi’s office, there is no way to tell how much is accurate:

    Breaking: Prime Minister’s Office: The head of the Mossad recently returned from Doha from an initial meeting with the mediators. It was determined that next week a team will leave to continue the negotiations. It will be emphasized that there are still gaps between the parties

  53. 53.

    Damien

    Netanyahu could fuck up a sunrise, so I’ll keep holding my breath on this.ย  However, the situation seems to reflect answers to what I’ve started to think of as the Silverman Question: How do wars end?

    In many of my most contentious conversations about this whole situation I raise this, and the answer is always unsatisfying in that one side in the conflict either can’t or won’t keep fighting.ย  Feels like we’re getting a sprinkling of both, because Israel doesn’t seem capable of continuing to fight the way that it was been for the last few months, and it doesn’t seem like Hamas wants to keep up the war they started either.ย  Who knows who’s pushing the buttons in the background to make these things happen, but ojalรก que terminan la guerra inmediatamente.

    If this does come to pass, how much money do we want to bet that Biden only gets further shit on for it?

  54. 54.

    Noskilz

    Some good news in an area that has seen one awful development after another would be a nice change of pace – hopefully something comes of it, but we’ll just have to see.

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Damien: Remember, that Israel’s own doctrine doesn’t really deal with successful battlefield termination. It is clear by creating maximum destruction and then get out with the expectation that you’ll have to go back in some time later. Also, Israel has never won/been successful in any war it has fought in Lebanon.

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