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Israel to Attend New Gaza Truce Talks despite Rejecting Hamas Offer

Palestinian children stare from a window in Gaza City on March 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Palestinian children stare from a window in Gaza City on March 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel to Attend New Gaza Truce Talks despite Rejecting Hamas Offer

Palestinian children stare from a window in Gaza City on March 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Palestinian children stare from a window in Gaza City on March 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for fresh talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, keeping faint hopes for a truce alive despite rejecting a long-awaited counter-offer from Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also said he had approved a plan for an assault on Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where more than half of the territory's 2.3 million residents are sheltering, though it gave no timeframe for such an attack.

Negotiators failed this week to reach a ceasefire agreement for the Gaza war in time for the Ramadan Muslim holy month. But Washington and Arab mediators are still determined to reach a deal to head off an Israeli assault on Rafah and let in humanitarian aid to stave off mass starvation.

The first ship bringing food aid by sea arrived off the Gaza coast on Friday morning, where an aid agency says it is building a temporary jetty to offload it.

Meanwhile, Israel has emphasized that in the absence of a ceasefire deal it is pressing on with war plans.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved the plans for action in Rafah. The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) is preparing operationally and for the evacuation of the population," Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement.

"Regarding the hostages - Hamas's demands are still unrealistic. An Israeli delegation will leave for Doha after the security cabinet discusses Israel's position."

Even Israel's closest ally Washington has pleaded with it not to assault Rafah, arguing that this would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel says it would evacuate residents first.

Hamas counter-offer

More than two weeks after receiving an Israeli-approved proposal for a truce, Hamas gave mediators on Thursday its first formal counter-proposal in more than a month. Like previous proposals from both sides, the offer, reviewed by Reuters on Friday, foresees dozens of Israeli hostages being freed in return for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, during a weeks-long ceasefire that would let in aid.

It also calls for talks in a later stage on ending the war, seen as anathema to Israel which says it will negotiate only over a temporary truce.

Though Israel did not accept, its description of the terms as "still unrealistic" was notably milder than the language it used about the previous Hamas offer last month, which Netanyahu called "completely delusional" and "from another planet".

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters Israel's rejection showed that Netanyahu was "determined to pursue the aggression against our people and undermine all efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire agreement". It was up to Washington to push its ally to accept a ceasefire, he said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country hosted the main negotiations in recent weeks, said he was still working hard to reach a deal.

Aid by sea

The first vessel bringing aid by sea, the Open Arms, carrying 200 tons of food, could be seen in the distance off the beach of Gaza, after being towed from Cyprus. The charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) aims to deliver the aid on a temporary jetty.

If the new sea route is successful, it may help to ease the hunger crisis affecting Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people face malnourishment and hospitals in the worst-stricken northern areas have reported children dying of starvation.

However, aid agencies have repeatedly said that plans to bring in aid by air and sea would be far from sufficient as long as most access by land is restricted.

The war began with an attack by Hamas fighters from Gaza who killed 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, an Israeli assault has killed more than 31,000 people and driven nearly the entire population of Gaza from their homes.

The United Nations says all of Gaza's 2.3 million people are suffering from a food crisis and a quarter of them are on the precipice of famine, especially in the north.

Israel, which has sealed off all land routes into Gaza apart from two crossings on the territory's southern edge, denies blame for hunger and says aid agencies should do a better job distributing food. The agencies say they need better access and security, both of which are the responsibility of Israeli forces who have blockaded the strip and stormed its cities.

The distribution of the limited aid that arrives has been chaotic and frequently violent.

In one of the worst reported incidents yet, Gaza health authorities said at least 21 people had been killed and 150 wounded at a queue for aid near Gaza City on Thursday night, blaming Israeli forces for shooting into the crowd.

Israel denied its troops were to blame and said Hamas fighters had opened fire. Reuters was not able to independently confirm either account in that part of Gaza.

Israel has also denied blame in past similar incidents at food distribution locations, including the deadliest so far, on Feb. 29, when more than 100 people were killed.

There are increasing signs of friction between Washington and its close ally Israel over the conduct of the war, which officials in President Joe Biden's administration say is being waged with too little care for Palestinian civilians.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States and a leader of Biden's Democratic Party, called on Thursday for Israelis to replace Netanyahu, whose hardline policies he said were wrecking Israel's international standing.

"Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah," Schumer said.

Netanyahu's Likud Party said his policies had widespread public support.

"Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel's elected government and not undermine it," it said. "This is always true, and even more so in wartime."

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Arab World

Hezbollah Unhappy with Political Negotiations with Israel but Unlikely to Confront the State

A joint patrol of UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army in the Marjayoun area near the border with Israel (AFP)
A joint patrol of UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army in the Marjayoun area near the border with Israel (AFP)
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Hezbollah Unhappy with Political Negotiations with Israel but Unlikely to Confront the State

A joint patrol of UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army in the Marjayoun area near the border with Israel (AFP)
A joint patrol of UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army in the Marjayoun area near the border with Israel (AFP)

Hezbollah officials have avoided commenting on the Lebanese government’s decision to appoint former ambassador Simon Karam as head of the Lebanese delegation to the “mechanism committee” overseeing the ceasefire with Israel, which effectively shifted the committee’s work from military-technical talks to political negotiations.

A formal party position is expected Friday, to be delivered by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem in a previously scheduled appearance.

Yet media outlets aligned with Hezbollah, along with its supporters on social platforms, quickly denounced the presidential decision. They described it as “another act of surrender by Lebanon, taken despite the absence of any Israeli willingness to meet Lebanese demands, chief among them ending attacks and violations, withdrawing from occupied territory, and releasing detainees.”

Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s internal discussions told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qassem will reiterate the party’s refusal to enter “a new round of negotiations as long as Israel fails to meet its obligations.”

He is also expected to reference the open letter he sent on November 6 to Lebanon’s President, Parliament Speaker, Premier and the public, stressing rejection of any new talks and reaffirming “the right of resistance.”

The sources added that both Hezbollah and Speaker Nabih Berri are dissatisfied with Karam’s appointment because of his known political stance against “the resistance.”

Still, neither intends to provoke internal conflict. Instead, they will continue working with the state “within the framework of insisting that Lebanon assume responsibility for halting Israeli aggression, recovering land, securing prisoner releases, initiating reconstruction, and above all, preventing another Israeli war.”

On Wednesday evening, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV criticized the inclusion of a civilian in the mechanism committee, declaring that “the Lebanese state has taken its decisions and must bear their consequences.”

It added that the government “has stepped into the unknown without guaranteed returns,” insisting that “the people of the land will not concede rights or surrender.”

Political analyst Kassem Kassir, who closely follows Hezbollah, stressed that the priority for the party and its supporters remains achieving concrete outcomes: stopping Israeli assaults, withdrawing from occupied land, freeing prisoners, and rebuilding devastated areas.

Ali Al-Amin, editor of the Janoubia news site, recalled that Hezbollah had already informed Lebanon’s leaders of its rejection of negotiations with Israel.

Still, Karam’s appointment was “a Lebanese decision driven by internal considerations,” and the party cannot block it at a time when Israel has threatened a devastating war.

While Hezbollah signaled displeasure - prompting small street protests - it has not issued an outright rejection.

Asked about the party’s red lines, Al-Amin said Hezbollah will not relinquish its weapons, particularly north of the Litani River.

Should the government attempt to enforce disarmament, he warned, confrontation with the army could follow, an outcome still viewed by Hezbollah as less costly than a new Israeli war with unpredictable consequences.

Arab World

Israel Meets Lebanon’s Diplomatic Overture with Strikes on the South

Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Nabatieh area in May 2025 (Archive – EPA). 
Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Nabatieh area in May 2025 (Archive – EPA). 
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Israel Meets Lebanon’s Diplomatic Overture with Strikes on the South

Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Nabatieh area in May 2025 (Archive – EPA). 
Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Nabatieh area in May 2025 (Archive – EPA). 

Israel on Thursday ended days of ambiguity over whether the recent “positive atmosphere” created by civilian negotiations with Lebanon might ease tensions. Instead, it launched four airstrikes targeting homes in South Lebanon, including one north of the Litani River.

The attacks came less than 24 hours after the latest meeting of the joint “mechanism” committee.

The escalation appeared to answer leaked Lebanese reports that Ambassador Simon Karam, head of Lebanon’s negotiating delegation, had been tasked with discussing a cessation of hostilities, a prisoner exchange, Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese areas, and technical adjustments along the Blue Line.

Al-Jadeed channel quoted President Joseph Aoun as saying Lebanon “has not entered normalization nor signed a peace agreement.”

At Thursday’s cabinet session, Aoun presented his decision to appoint Karam after consultations with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, stressing the need for talks in Naqoura and for a civilian figure in the delegation.

The initial meeting, he said, “was not expected to be highly productive,” but it paved the way for subsequent sessions beginning on the 19th. “The language of negotiation must replace the language of war,” he added.

Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal also submitted his monthly report on enforcing the state’s monopoly over arms, outlining operations south of the Litani River. Lebanese media reported a significant step in this direction: the army, accompanied by UNIFIL, reportedly seized Hezbollah rockets in the area.

As Lebanon tries to widen the diplomatic window to contain tensions and avert a large-scale Israeli attack, two contrasting messages have emerged from Israel. One camp welcomed the appointment of Karam, while another insists on separating diplomacy from military operations and preventing negotiations from influencing conditions on the ground.

This harder line became clear when Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents of Mahrouna, Bar’ashit, al-Majadal (south of the Litani), and Jbaa (north of it) to evacuate at least 300 meters away because the army would soon strike Hezbollah infrastructure across the south.

Hours later, Israel carried out the strikes, saying it targeted depots embedded in residential areas - an example, it claimed, of Hezbollah’s use of civilian buildings for military purposes.

MP Ashraf Rifi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the political and security climate “remains dangerous despite the sense of relief surrounding the negotiations.” Messages from Israeli officials, he said, show that talks “do not automatically halt targeting of Hezbollah or its weapons,” adding that escalation “remains highly possible.”

Rifi said Israel has “a clear strategic project aimed at ending Iranian influence across the Arab region,” and if it concludes that Lebanon cannot disarm Hezbollah, it “may resort to military action.”

He cited the return of Israeli drones over Beirut as proof that Lebanon “remains squarely within the circle of threat.”

MP Akram Chehayeb of the Democratic Gathering said the essential question is whether Israel genuinely seeks peace, given ongoing actions against Palestinians. He argued that a return to the 1949 Armistice framework would be a major gain for Lebanon, recalling earlier negotiation rounds, including those leading to the 2022 maritime agreement.

 

 

 

Arab World

'Land Without laws': Israeli Settlers Force Bedouins from West Bank Community

AFP visited Ahmed Kaabneh weeks before he was forced to flee his home in the al-Hathrura area. Menahem Kahana / AFP
AFP visited Ahmed Kaabneh weeks before he was forced to flee his home in the al-Hathrura area. Menahem Kahana / AFP
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'Land Without laws': Israeli Settlers Force Bedouins from West Bank Community

AFP visited Ahmed Kaabneh weeks before he was forced to flee his home in the al-Hathrura area. Menahem Kahana / AFP
AFP visited Ahmed Kaabneh weeks before he was forced to flee his home in the al-Hathrura area. Menahem Kahana / AFP

As relentless harassment from Israeli settlers drove his brothers from their Bedouin community in the central occupied West Bank, Ahmed Kaabneh remained determined to stay on the land his family had lived on for generations.

But when a handful of young settlers constructed a shack around 100 meters above his home and started intimidating his children, 45-year-old Kaabneh said he had no choice but to flee too.

As with scores of Bedouin communities across the West Bank, the small cluster of wood and metal houses where Kaabneh's father and grandfather had lived now lies empty.

"It is very difficult... because you leave an area where you lived for 45 years. Not a day or two or three, but nearly a lifetime," Kaabneh told AFP at his family's new makeshift house in the rocky hills north of Jericho.

"But what can you do? They are the strong ones and we are the weak, and we have no power."

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has soared since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023 following Hamas's attack on Israel.

Some 3,200 Palestinians from dozens of Bedouin and herding communities have been forced from their homes by settler violence and movement restrictions since October 2023, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA reported in October.

The United Nations said this October was the worst month for settler violence since it began recording incidents in 2006.

Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

'Terrifying'

Kaabneh, four of his brothers and their families, now live together some 13 kilometers (eight miles) northeast of their original homes, which sat in the al-Hathrura area.

Outside his freshly constructed metal house, boys kicked a football while washing hung from the line. But Kaabneh said the area didn't feel like home.

"We are in a place we have never lived in before, and life here is hard," he said.

Alongside surging violence, the number of settler outposts has exploded in the West Bank.

While all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, outposts are also prohibited under Israeli law. But many end up being legalized by the Israeli authorities.

AFP had visited Kaabneh in the al-Hathrura area weeks before he was forced to flee.

On the dirt road to his family's compound, caravans and an Israeli flag atop a hill marked an outpost established earlier this year -- one of several to have sprung up in the area.

On the other side of the track, in the valley, lay the wreckage of another Bedouin compound whose residents had recently fled.

While in Kaabneh's cluster of homes, AFP witnessed two settlers driving to the top of a hill to surveil the Bedouins below.

"The situation is terrifying," Kaabneh said at the time, with life becoming almost untenable because of daily harassment and shrinking grazing land.

Less than three weeks later, the homes were deserted.

Kaabneh said the settlers "would shout all night, throw stones, and walk through the middle of the houses."

"They didn't allow us to sleep at night, nor move freely during the day."

'Thrive on chaos'

These days, only activists and the odd cat wander the remnants of Kaabneh's former life -- where upturned children's bikes and discarded shoes reveal the chaotic departure.

"We are here to keep an eye on the property... because a lot of places that are abandoned are usually looted by the settlements," said Sahar Kan-Tor, 29, an Israeli activist with the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots group Standing Together.

Meanwhile, settlers with a quadbike and digger were busy dismantling their hilltop shack and replacing it with a sofa and table.

"They thrive on chaos," Kan-Tor explained.

"It is, in a way, a land without laws. There (are) authorities roaming around, but nothing is enforced, or very rarely enforced."

A report by Israeli settlement watchdogs last December said settlers had used shepherding outposts to seize 14 percent of the West Bank in recent years.

NGOs Peace Now and Kerem Navot said settlers were acting "with the backing of the Israeli government and military".

Some members of Israel's right-wing government are settlers themselves, and far-right ministers have called for the West Bank's annexation.

Kan-Tor said he believed settlers were targeting this stretch of the West Bank because of its significance for a contiguous Palestinian state.

But Kaabneh said the threat of attacks loomed even in his new location in the east of the territory.

He said settlers had already driven along the track leading to his family's homes and watched them from the hill above.

"Even this area, which should be considered safe, is not truly safe," Kaabneh lamented.

"They pursue us everywhere."