The extremist group plans to release Israeli hostages, including female soldiers, in exchange for a truce and the release of a thousand Palestinian prisoners. Smotrich attacks the White House over sanctions against settlers. Gideon Sa'ar leaves Gantz's centrist alliance, weakening the alternative to Netanyahu. 

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – Amid the deafening noise of the weapons of war in Gaza, diplomatic efforts continue, at least behind the scenes, to reach a ceasefire and alleviate the suffering of the population of the Palestinian territory.

Reuters is reporting that Hamas has proposed a ceasefire to mediators and the United States, whereby Israeli hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. At least a hundred are on death row.

Hamas said the release would include women, children, the elderly and sick hostages in exchange for the release of about a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The group that controls the Strip is also open to the release of "female recruits", a reference to kidnapped Israeli female soldiers.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office yesterday rejected the truce proposal. For Israel’s war cabinet, the latter is based on "unrealistic demands”.

A new cabinet meeting is scheduled for today, as is a meeting of the extended security cabinet, but it is hard to see Israeli leaders suddenly changing course.

Egypt and Qatar have sought to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas on the ceasefire, to find ways to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's population, a quarter of whom are near famine conditions.

While Qatari leaders are not talking about the negotiations, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that talks are about increasing aid deliveries and allowing displaced people in the south and central part of the Palestinian enclave to return to the north.

In February, Israel rejected a truce proposal by Hamas, refusing to stop the war until Hamas was fully destroyed, a goal seen as unrealistic by more than one international observer.

Under the latest proposal put forward by the extremist group, which has controlled Gaza since 2006, a date for a permanent ceasefire could be set after a first exchange of hostages and prisoners, coupled with a deadline for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

The group said all detainees on both sides would be released in a second phase of the plan.

Meanwhile, the war of words between the United States and Israel is heating up again, fuelled by the US decision to impose new sanctions on three settlers and two illegal outposts, which follow a similar measure in February against four settlers guilty of violence in the West Bank.

For Israeli Finance Minister and far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich, this would “lead to the elimination of the settlement enterprise,” a capitulation of the White House to the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaign and a green light to the “Palestinian terrorist state”.

“The Israeli government is standing to the right of the settlement,” said Smotrich. “These measures are completely unacceptable and we will fight to cancel them.”

Meanwhile, on the first Friday of prayer during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, thousands of Israeli police were patrolling the streets of the old city and the entrances to Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.

According to some sources, at least 80,000 worshippers made it to the al-Aqsa Mosque, despite strict restrictions imposed by Israeli security forces, yet thousands of West Bank residents from entering, including women and the elderly, were kept away.

According to Palestinian sources, many were rejected because they lacked "prayer permits". “They told me, ‘go back’," one man said after he was turned away in Bethlehem. "I am 90 years old, what is your problem with me?”

Finally, in Israel proper, where protests are multiplying demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas and the resignation of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the latter seems to benefit from some political manoeuvring.

Yesterday, in a surprise move, the New Hope party led by Gideon Sa'ar quit the National Unity bloc, which it had previously joined, to support the government.

The former Likud member, among the first prominent defections from the prime minister's party now seems to be returning to Netanyahu's fold.

More importantly, this seems to make the presence of Benny Gantz in the war cabinet irrelevant, despite the steady popular support the former general and centre-right leader currently enjoys.

• israel
• palestine
• gaza
• strip
• war
• egypt
• qatar
• benyamin netanyahu
• benny gantz
• gideon sa’ar
• bezalel smotrich