Posted on 05/07/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
The New York Times has confirmed that on Monday night, the Hamas terror group proposed a counteroffer for a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal, and did not "agree" to the deal approved by both Israel and the US.
Nevertheless, the counteroffer - though not deemed acceptable - was seen by the US as a sign of progress.
The New York Times stressed that Israel's strikes in Rafah were "retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks that killed four Israeli soldiers," and a way to pressure Hamas, but did not constitute the strike that US President Joe Biden was warning against.
Biden is still insisting to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a ground invasion on Rafah "is a terrible idea," Mara Rudman, a former deputy Middle East special envoy under President Barack Obama who is now at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, told the Times. She claimed that Biden is also "pressuring Hamas in every way possible to get hostages out and more humanitarian aid in."
According to the Times, the proposal would see Israel cease its attacks on Hamas for a full 42 days, and release hundreds of convicted terrorists, while Hamas would release 33 women, ailing, and children. Hamas had promised to release all civilian women and children under the November 2023 deal, but failed to keep its commitment.