It is difficult to try to restart the negotiations to reach a truce in Gauze following Hamas’s official announcement that it will not participate in the crucial August 15 meeting. This is the first negotiating meeting since Yahya Sinwar took over the leadership of the organization, which was planned following the recent joint declaration by the leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar. While the Israeli side said it would send its negotiating team led by Mossad commander David Barnea, in its announcement last night Hamas asked Egyptian and Qatari mediators to put pressure on Israel to accept the proposals the Palestinian organization submitted in writing on July 2. In its proposals, Hamas set, among other things, the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip as a condition for the implementation of the truce framework and the end of the war as the horizon of the agreement framework. In its announcement, the organization emphasizes that the proposals it had submitted “are immediately applicable” and therefore the restart of negotiations is not considered appropriate.

The Israeli agenda

The Israeli side, on the other hand, assures that it will attend next Thursday’s meeting, although it has not yet been finalized whether it will take place in Cairo or Doha. High on the Israeli agenda is the demand to maintain military control over the “Philadelphia Axis” that separates Gaza from Egypt, as well as over the Rafah outpost. On bilateral Israel-Hamas issues, Israel insists on being handed a nominal list of hostages to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire framework, but also on vetoing the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israeli prisons. According to state-run Israeli television, citing well-informed military sources, the Israeli side intends to become more flexible in controlling the movement of people from the south to the north of Gaza, as well as in security measures on the “Netsarim Line”. that divides the Gaza Strip into northern and southern parts, where Israeli troops equipped with advanced electronic surveillance equipment have been stationed.

Yahya Sinouar’s tactical move?

Commenting on Hamas’s official announcement and its refusal to participate in the resumption of talks, government circles and political analysts in Israel believe that this is a tactical move by Yahya Shinuar. Opinion articles published in the local press suggest that the organization’s stance is very likely to change by next Thursday. They point out at the same time that, in any case, no representative of Hamas would participate in the talks, since the results of the discussions would be transmitted to the organization through the mediators of Egypt and Qatar.

Media reports indicate that the Egyptian and Qatari mediators share the same view, continuing to take action ahead of the upcoming August 15 meeting.

However, today’s order by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to members of his government not to make public statements related to the outcome of the war or negotiations in the coming days has caused an impression. Apparently, the Netanyahu government does not want to be blamed if the talks fail or the crucial meeting next Thursday is cancelled.