Egypt’s new “peace proposal,” which it presented along with Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Qatar, is getting a “cool reception,” justifiably from Israel in particular. The idea of a “Palestinian government of experts to oversee Gaza and the West Bank,” as stated in the “peace proposal,” is ridiculous on its face. No Palestinian leadership has ever accepted Israel’s right to exist. The plan also does not take into consideration Israel’s justifiable determination to “destroy Hamas, demilitarize Gaza, and deradicalize Palestinian society,” according to Netanyahu’s reasonable “prerequisites for peace.”
As for the Hamas side, there was no official response, but it seeks a permanent ceasefire to protect its organization and its overall mission to obliterate Israel. As demonstrated by October 7, it is now clear that Hamas’ mission to annihilate Israel also includes inflicting the worst possible barbarism upon Israeli citizens — from infants to senior citizens.
Egypt and Qatar, as expected, put forth a plan to fully serve longterm Palestinian interests. While Israel has demonstrated a strong will to see its hostages freed, the war on Hamas is intended to destroy Hamas to protect Israel’s existence; as well as deradicalize and demilitarize Palestinians, which is not even mentioned in the Egyptian plan. Also, Israel has been clear that it has no intention to return to the pre-1967 borders. Any such agreement by Israel would be suicidal. Israel has a right to its land, which includes Judea and Samaria. After the Six-Day War, the Arab League declared: “No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel.”
The goal of the repeated Arab attacks on Israel since 1948 has been to destroy Israel. The same can be said for Iran and its proxies currently. Is there any wonder that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation slams Israel and collectively supports an immediate ceasefire?
“Egypt’s Gaza peace proposal gets cool reception,” by Jarad Gans, The Hill, December 5, 2023:
Egypt’s peace proposal for Hamas to give up power in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a permanent end of hostilities in the region has been met with a cool reception from both sides.
A senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press that the plan would call for a phased release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts to oversee Gaza and the West Bank.
The Egyptian official said Egypt worked on the details of the plan with Qatar and presented it to Israel, Hamas, the United States and multiple European countries.
But Israel and Hamas both did not seem enthusiastic to accept the plan, although neither directly rejected it entirely.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of his Likud Party that he is focused on Israel continuing with its offensive to remove Hamas from power in Gaza, saying the fight will be expanding in the coming days.
Netanyahu also said the battle will be long and the fight “isn’t close to finished.”
Hamas has not officially responded to the proposal, but top official Izzat Rishq said in a statement that it will not negotiate without a “complete end to the aggression.” ….
rick says
Hamas is an enemy of Egypt as it is a sub group of the Muslim Brotherhood, a much larger and older political mainly Egyptian group which is a big problem for the Egyptian leadership. The late Egyptian leader Morsi was a Brotherhood member and that is why he found himself back in jail even though he won the election. So Egypt knows that Hamas is a dangerous terrorist organization. But Qatar is pro-Hamas so nothing they say can be accepted at all. The danger with Egypt is whether they will try to out maneuver Israel to become again a victim of Hamas. Qatar is completely unacceptable.
SKA says
Clarification: the so-called “pre-1967 borders” within the boundaries of the British Mandate for Palestine are actually the 1948 cease-fire lines, not international borders. Both the Jordanian annexation of Judea and Samaria and the Egyptian administration within the Gaza Strip were illegal military occupations.
Mark says
Sinwar says no , Hamas will continue their fighting !! Very clear !!
JOHN LLOYD SCHARF says
Only unconditional surrender by Hamas to the sovereign state of Israel is an acceptable proposal, just like was expected of Nazis and Imperialist Japanese.