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Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Gaza side of Rafah crossing - BBC News Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Gaza side of Rafah crossing - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Dennis Ross, a former US Middle East envoy, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a "difficult position" when it comes to agreeing any potential ceasefire deal. Raffi Berg
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have both said they would quit the government over the terms Israel was prepared to put on the table, Ross says, adding it is an "open question" as to whether they are bluffing. Digital Middle East editor
But if the terms Hamas says it will accept are close to what Netanyahu has already agreed to present, Ross says it "won't be so easy for him to turn it down", adding that if Netanyahu was to do so, there is a "high risk" that other figures in the government could leave.
"That doesn't bring the government down the way Smotrich and Ben-Gvir would, but it may set in motion a set of events in Israel that I think could put the government at risk," he says. Hamas's acceptance of (undisclosed) proposals appeared to offer a moment of hope in a months-long cycle of progress and setbacks.
"At a certain point, he needs to choose Biden over Ben-Gvir, he needs to choose the hostages over Smotrich". Momentum which led to Monday's statement by Hamas was
kick-started just over a week ago, when an official from the group said it had
"no major issues" with the latest proposal.
At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the
US was “hopeful” Hamas would accept the proposal, which he called
“extraordinarily generous”.
The terms were not publicised, but reports suggested that Israel
had found a new form of words about a pause in fighting – talking about a
"sustainable calm" in Gaza – something between a truce and a
ceasefire.
A day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an
offensive against Hamas in Rafah would go ahead regardless of whether there was
a truce - raising doubts over Hamas's willingness to give a positive answer.
Hopes were further dimmed on Sunday when talks in Cairo
between Hamas and mediators stalled, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other.
A rocket attack from Rafah by Hamas the same day which killed
four Israeli soldiers, swiftly followed by Israeli air strikes on Rafah which
reportedly killed 19 Palestinians - and Israel's order hours later for Palestinians
to evacuate parts of Rafah - deepened a growing sense of pessimism.
So when Hamas's leadership issued its statement on Monday
evening saying they had approved the Egyptian and Qatari-mediated proposal, it
bucked expectations.
Neither Israel nor Hamas want to be held responsible for failing to reach a ceasefire - so each is showing they're prepared to keep going, as the urgency grows by the day.
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