9 important moments of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza; How did Israel finally surrender?
Since the end of the first Gaza ceasefire agreement on November 30, 2023, the process of indirect negotiations between the Israeli regime and the Hamas movement to end the war and exchange prisoners has witnessed significant milestones, supported by influential regional and international parties, especially Qatar and Egypt. The United States, which is considered the agent and commander of the start and continuation of this devastating war against Gaza, has always claimed to mediate for the ceasefire.
During this period, several rounds of ceasefire negotiations were held in Gaza, some of which took the form of indirect negotiations between Hamas and the occupation regime, and some were held by mediators with the Israeli regime, without the participation of Hamas.
1. Paris negotiations in January 2024
In January 2024, Paris, the capital of France, witnessed an international meeting attended by representatives of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and the Israeli regime with the aim of creating a framework for negotiations for the exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Tel Aviv. Despite the initial agreement on the framework for the negotiations, these talks did not come to fruition.
The proposal put forward in these negotiations emphasized the implementation of a prisoner exchange agreement, a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of the Israeli regime from the Gaza Strip, the return of refugees, and the start of reconstruction in Gaza. Hamas agreed to the terms of this proposal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the proposal was entirely in Hamas’ favor and therefore could not be accepted.
Hamas considered Netanyahu’s positions an attempt to prolong the war and emphasized that it would not compromise on its main demands in any agreement, including a complete end to the war and a complete withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Gaza Strip.
2. Negotiations on February 23, 2024 in Paris
The second negotiations on the Gaza ceasefire were held in Paris on February 23, 2024, with the same previous regional and international parties present at the meeting, with France joining them. In this round, an initial agreement was reached on a general framework for the prisoner exchange and a path to pacify the Gaza Strip in stages, but this too was not achieved due to Zionist obstructionism. The two main rounds of negotiations in Paris, known as the Paris Principles, ended without any results.
3. Cairo talks in February and March 2024
A series of talks began in Cairo in February and March 2024, which included meetings between mediators as well as indirect talks with representatives of Hamas and the Israeli regime.
In the first week of February 2024, Cairo hosted a long round of indirect talks between Hamas and the Israeli regime, with a Hamas delegation present, which lasted three days.
On February 13, a high-level meeting was held in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire and prisoner exchange, attended by William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and David Barnia, head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence service. Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was also present in this round of negotiations, along with Egyptian officials. These negotiations also failed to reach any concrete results and failed.
In March 2024, Cairo hosted an Arab meeting with the participation of the Palestinian Authority to discuss solutions for establishing a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to reduce the suffering of the Palestinian people in this strip.
On March 19, 2024, the Qatari capital witnessed a round of indirect negotiations between Hamas and the Israeli regime as part of the mediators’ efforts to conclude a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli delegation, including officials from the Mossad, AMAN, and Shin Bet intelligence services, participated in the Doha talks after receiving permission from the regime’s war cabinet to discuss the remaining issues.
The purpose of this round of negotiations was to discuss a new proposal presented by Hamas, which showed that the movement had shown flexibility in its demands and, in response to the request of Qatari and Egyptian mediators, was seeking to bring the views closer and reach a final agreement on a ceasefire.
4. Hamas’ proposal
On May 6, 2024, the Hamas movement announced that the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, the then-head of the Hamas political bureau, had made a telephone call to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, and Abbas Kamel, the Director of Egyptian Intelligence, informing them of Hamas’s agreement to a ceasefire. However, the day after Hamas announced its agreement to a ceasefire, the Israeli regime launched a massive, brutal attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which led to the failure of the negotiations.