According to the Wall Street Journal, the Palestinian movement Hamas has rejected Israel’s offer for a one-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of detainees. Egyptian officials report that Hamas has stated the need for the ceasefire to take effect before discussing the release of Israeli hostages.
The newspaper notes that Hamas’ refusal does not mean the failure of negotiations, but rather is a strategic move to compel Israel to make more significant concessions.
Under the terms of the proposal, Israel sought to release 40 hostages, including women, children, and elderly men in need of medical treatment, in exchange for a temporary halt to ground and air operations in the Gaza Strip for one week. Additionally, Israel wanted to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.
According to the publication, the militant group “Islamic Jihad” (a banned organization in Russia) also demands the release of several thousand movement prisoners in exchange for over 100 remaining Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
The situation in the Middle East intensified after thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7. Over 200 hostages were taken.
On that day, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israeli territory and announced the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country was in a state of war.
The Lebanese Shiite organization “Hezbollah” expressed its support for Hamas. Rocket attacks on Israel and Lebanon began from both sides. On the day of October 19, the Israeli army announced that the country’s border areas had been shelled from Lebanese territory. According to the IDF, several anti-tank missiles were fired towards the kibbutz of Manara.
The Lebanese Shiite organization “Hezbollah” is believed to be able to neutralize Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system in the event of a conflict in the Middle East, according to experts cited by Bloomberg.
Earlier, Hamas released the first hostages.
