Business Standard attempts to summarize the reasons why Israel rejected the proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, which Hamas agreed to.

When Hamas announced on Monday that it had accepted what it described as a ceasefire and hostage release proposal from Egypt and Qatar, Israeli officials reportedly said the terms of the proposed deal did not meet Israel’s demands.

From the office of the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, it was announced that a specific proposal is accepted, while a senior Hamas official told an international news agency that Israel now has the final say.

“After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ ceasefire proposal, “the ball is now in Israel’s court“, he will either agree or put up obstacles,” the Hamas official commented.

But Israeli officials countered late Monday night to The Times of Israel that the terms Hamas said it accepted did not match those set by Israel

Which proposal did Hamas accept?

The proposal agreed to by Hamas includes a three-phase deal, with each phase lasting 42 days, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, told Al Jazeera.

According to the Hamas leader, in the proposal to which they agree, there is a “clear commitment to a temporary cessation of military operations” on the first day of the first phase of the agreement.

In the second phase, an announcement of a “definitive cessation of military and hostile operations” is foreseen.

The Hamas leader also described Egypt as a guarantor of the agreement in order to ensure that the war does not resume.

He also claimed that mediators had told Hamas that US President Joe Biden had committed to its implementation.

Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Hamas sources claimed to have received assurances from the US, Qatar and Egypt that Israel would not resume war after the implementation of the three-stage agreement.

Because Israel rejected the proposal

The Israeli negotiating team is of the view that the proposal it said Hamas accepted was not the same deal proposal that Israel and Egypt agreed to 10 days ago, and which has become the basis for negotiations since then.

At least that’s what Israeli officials claimed, speaking to Israel’s Channel 12.

According to the officials, “all kinds of clauses” had been inserted into the proposal.

Israel’s rejection of Hamas’ terms is related to the fact that these new clauses are said to address both whether the war between Israel and Hamas will end and how and when.

The new clauses even relate to the guarantees that will be given to ensure that the war ends.

Hamas has reportedly hardened its stance and demands that the war be ended as early as the first phase of any possible agreement, rather than the second or third phase.

But Israel has repeatedly rejected any terms that would force it to end the war under a hostage exchange deal.

Instead, Israel insists it will resume fighting once any such agreement is implemented.

The strategy serves two war aims: To get the hostages back and to destroy the Hamas army and leadership.

For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that regardless of a hostage release deal, Israeli forces will eliminate the last Hamas strongholds in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began issuing evacuation orders to Palestinian civilians in the area.

Meanwhile, Hamas has also repeatedly rejected Israeli ceasefire proposals since it demands a total ceasefire and Israel has refused to end the war without eliminating the remaining Hamas fighters, especially in Rafah.

What happens “behind closed doors”

Hamas’s announcement that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal appeared to be “a ruse” intended to make Israel look like the side rejecting the deal, an Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

However, another official, who had been briefed on the negotiations, was quoted as saying that the proposal accepted by Hamas was essentially the same as the one agreed to by Israel in late April.

At the same time, a US official told Reuters that Netanyahu and Israel’s War Cabinet do not appear to be “coming to the table” of the latest phase of negotiations in “good faith”.

What will Israel do next?

The Netanyahu government made it clear that Hamas’s offer “falls far short of Israel’s basic demands.”

But he made it clear that Israel would send teams of negotiators to hold talks with mediators “to make the maximum effort to reach an agreement on terms acceptable to Israel.”

At the same time, he announced that there was a unanimous decision to launch the Israeli Army’s operation in Rafah in order to exert “military pressure on Hamas”.

So the IDF announced last night that its troops were striking “targeted” Hamas sites in eastern Rafah.

How did the US react?

Washington is reviewing Hamas’s response to the latest truce proposal and is discussing it with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, adding that CIA Director Bill Burns had flown to the region to work to a truce agreement was reached.

At the same time, he emphasized that an agreement is “absolutely possible” and the “absolute best result”.

Finally, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: “We want to get these hostages out, we want to put a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian aid.”