CNN
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Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants a ceasefire agreement — or at least that is the message Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries have conveyed to Israeli officials in recent days ahead of a key summit planned for later this week, Israeli sources familiar with the matter said.
Whether the Israeli prime minister wants that remains unclear.
Two Israeli sources said Netanyahu’s aides have told journalists and government officials that he is ready to make the deal regardless of the impact it would have on his ruling coalition, but Israeli security officials remain highly skeptical about his willingness to do so given fierce opposition from far-right ministers in his coalition.
“No one knows what Bibi wants,” one Israeli source said, using a nickname for Prime Minister Netanyahu.
What is clear is that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be under enormous pressure from the United States this week to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
According to Israeli sources, U.S. officials have made it clear to their Israeli counterparts that they believe now is the time to reach a ceasefire agreement to avoid an escalation of the regional war.
The influential Israeli group Forum of Hostages and Missing Families has also called on Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement with the hostages.
“An agreement is the only way to bring all hostages home. Time is running out. The hostages cannot afford more. The agreement must be signed now!” the forum said in a statement on Thursday.
At the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition partners have made it clear that they do not want Israel to make a deal with Hamas.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday called the proposed ceasefire a “surrender agreement.” He posted on social media platform X: “We urge the prime minister not to fall into this trap and not to agree to even the slightest change from the red lines he set so recently, which are also highly problematic.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby condemned Smotrich’s comments, saying “his assertions are completely false.”
But Netanyahu’s political future depends heavily on his coalition partners, some of whom have already threatened to quit the government and trigger its collapse if he agrees to the deal.
The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is currently in recess for the summer, making it difficult, if not impossible, for Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to topple the current government, and Israeli sources say a ceasefire could prompt Netanyahu to call elections, which would give him control over the timing of those elections.
Mediators are due to meet with Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams in Cairo or Doha next week, but talks are already underway and technical delegations are working “around the clock” on key details ahead of Thursday’s meeting, an Israeli source said.
The meeting comes at a time of extreme tension in the Middle East, with high-profile assassinations in Lebanon and Iran in recent weeks raising fears that retaliation could lead to further escalation of the conflict.
Last week, Israel killed Fouad Shukr, a top commander of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. A day later, Israel is widely believed to have assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, seen as a major embarrassment for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which had hosted Haniyeh.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the incident.
There are indications that Iran may reconsider the scale and timing of retaliation against Israel if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, putting further pressure on Israel to reach an agreement to avoid the risk of an all-out regional war.
Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip and who Israel says was one of the masterminds of the deadly Oct. 7 terror attack, was appointed the organization’s new political bureau chief following Haniyeh’s assassination.
Sinwar has not been seen in public since Oct. 7 and is believed to be hiding out in tunnels underground in the Gaza Strip. While Haniyeh has played a key role in the ceasefire negotiations, Sinwar’s role has been limited by his difficulties communicating with the outside world.
The meeting came after Israeli forces attacked a school and a mosque compound, killing scores and sparking international condemnation. Israel said it targeted a Hamas headquarters, killing several militants.
After the airstrikes, US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, said on Saturday that “too many” civilians had been killed in Gaza and that “a deal needs to be concluded now.”
