Egyptian intelligence quietly changed the terms of a ceasefire proposal that Israel had already signed off on earlier this month, ultimately scuttling a deal that could have released Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and set a pathway to temporarily end the fighting in Gaza, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

The ceasefire agreement that Hamas ended up announcing on May 6 was not what the Qataris or the Americans believed had been submitted to Hamas for a potential final review, the sources said.

The changes made by Egyptian intelligence, the details of which have not been previously reported, led to a wave of anger and recrimination among officials from the US, Qatar and Israel, and left ceasefire talks at an impasse.

  • steventhedev@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    3 hostages per week for 6 weeks in return for an immediate withdrawal of all Israeli forces and a full end to the war.

    In other words: 18 hostages, some of whom might be dead, and 114 who would never be returned.

    This was not a minor change that could possibly be construed as testing which terms would be acceptable. This was a deliberate attempt to sabotage negotiations and produce a headline of “Hamas agrees to ceasefire” to avoid US pressure on Qatar to kick out Hamas leadership.