عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

New Proposals Revive Push to Resume Gaza Truce Talks

22 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusairat: Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point to receive their portion of a hot meal, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
22 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusairat: Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point to receive their portion of a hot meal, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT
TT

New Proposals Revive Push to Resume Gaza Truce Talks

22 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusairat: Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point to receive their portion of a hot meal, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
22 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusairat: Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point to receive their portion of a hot meal, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Mediators are working to break the deadlock in stalled negotiations over a renewed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to discuss what sources described as “new ideas for de-escalation.”

The diplomatic push comes as Israel’s security cabinet convenes to review developments on the hostages taken by Hamas, and ahead of a potential visit by US President Donald Trump to the region next month, a move that could inject fresh momentum into the faltering talks, sources familiar with the matter told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Efforts to resume the truce have intensified since a ceasefire agreement collapsed on March 18. Four previous proposals to restore calm have failed, but sources said the latest Egyptian-mediated initiative may pave the way for a temporary lull that could evolve into a broader ceasefire.

Hamas will present a new proposal in Cairo that includes a five-point plan for a long-term ceasefire in Gaza, featuring a comprehensive prisoner exchange and regional and international guarantees, a source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions, said the plan envisions a deal for the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners.

The proposal also calls for a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction of the war-ravaged territory, and a complete lifting of the blockade.

According to the source, Hamas is also prepared to commit to a five-year truce under international and regional oversight, should the proposal gain traction.

Hamas is set to present a detailed five-point framework in Cairo, including a long-term truce and a comprehensive prisoner swap, aimed at ending the war in Gaza and restoring stability, they told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The third point in the proposal calls for an immediate return to the situation prior to March 2, 2025, if the framework is approved.

This includes a halt to military operations, Israeli troop withdrawal to positions held under the January 17 agreement, and the entry of humanitarian aid in line with a pre-agreed protocol.

The fourth clause proposes the formation of a local committee of independent technocrats to fully administer Gaza, in accordance with Egypt’s earlier suggestion for a community support council.

The fifth and final point reaffirms Hamas’ willingness to engage in a broader Palestinian national reconciliation based on previous intra-Palestinian agreements - most recently the 2024 Beijing accord.

A Hamas delegation departed Doha for Cairo on Tuesday to discuss the new ceasefire proposal, a senior Hamas official told AFP.

Meanwhile, the BBC quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying that Egyptian and Qatari mediators have put forward a serious new proposal for ending the war, involving a ceasefire lasting between five and seven years, the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and an official end to the conflict.

The last ceasefire collapsed on March 18 when Israel resumed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and refused to enter the second phase of a previously agreed roadmap.

Multiple joint proposals from Egypt, Israel, and the United States in March and early April failed to bridge the divide between the warring parties.

Hamas is stepping up diplomatic efforts to rally support for its proposed comprehensive ceasefire deal, days after receiving an Israeli proposal for a temporary truce via Egyptian mediators, Egyptian sources told Cairo News Channel last week.

While Hamas did not explicitly reject the Israeli plan, which called for a short-term cessation of hostilities followed by negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire, the group responded with a televised statement demanding a broader agreement. Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using partial deals for political gain while failing to commit to ending the war.

The Hamas delegation’s visit to Cairo follows talks in Ankara on Sunday between senior Hamas official Mohammed Darwish and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Two Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the group is seeking Türkiye’s backing to convey its comprehensive deal to the Trump administration, citing strong ties between the two.

Hamas’ diplomatic push comes amid growing international pressure to halt the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Political science professor Tarek Fahmy, an expert in Palestinian and Israeli affairs, said the Hamas delegation’s visit is part of ongoing efforts to present new ideas for a ceasefire.

Fahmy noted that while the concept of a long-term truce is not new, current mediation efforts are focused on achieving a temporary ceasefire, securing the release of as many hostages and Palestinian prisoners as possible, and presenting Hamas with options to end the war - even under pressure - in order to stop the worsening crisis in the enclave.

“Hamas has limited options,” Fahmy said, pointing to the group's diplomatic maneuvers amid Israel's intensified military campaign, which he said has resulted in Israeli forces taking control of around 40% of Gaza.

Israel has not publicly commented on the latest mediation proposal, but Israeli Channel 12 reported that the country’s security cabinet held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue of hostages.

An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday evening and held talks the next day with mediators in a bid to break the deadlock in negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.

Egypt has not disclosed details of the latest diplomatic efforts, but Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed the situation with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, in Cairo on Tuesday.

According to a statement from Egypt’s foreign ministry, the talks focused on “efforts to resume implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to support de-escalation and restore the flow of humanitarian and relief aid into the Strip.”

Fahmy said the recent developments reflect a renewed push by Egypt and Qatar to secure a breakthrough in the stalled talks. He suggested a deal could be reached before Trump’s expected visit to the region next month.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanon: Hezbollah Boycotts Cabinet Session over Iran Ambassador Expulsion

A previous session of the Lebanese Parliament (National News Agency)
A previous session of the Lebanese Parliament (National News Agency)
TT
TT

Lebanon: Hezbollah Boycotts Cabinet Session over Iran Ambassador Expulsion

A previous session of the Lebanese Parliament (National News Agency)
A previous session of the Lebanese Parliament (National News Agency)

Ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted Lebanon's cabinet session on Thursday in protest over the government declaring the Iranian ambassador persona non grata, a Lebanese official told AFP.

The two Shiite parties have a combined four ministers, with one independent Shiite also represented in the cabinet present at the meeting, the official said, as the spat over the Iranian diplomat's expulsion escalated.

Hezbollah is an armed movement backed by Iran, which also has political representation in both government and parliament.

Arab World

Lebanese Fear Another Occupation as Israel Threatens to Use Gaza Tactics in the South

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
TT
TT

Lebanese Fear Another Occupation as Israel Threatens to Use Gaza Tactics in the South

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

As Israel trades fire with Hezbollah, calls for mass evacuations and sends ground troops deeper into Lebanon, its leaders have hinted at a long-term occupation modeled on the devastating conquest of much of Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israel says it needs to establish a zone of control in the depopulated south to shield its own northern communities, which have faced daily rocket attacks since the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group joined the wider war. Many in Lebanon fear that could mean the open-ended displacement of over a million people, the flattening of their homes and a loss of territory.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said this week that it would create a “security zone” up to the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border in some places. He said troops would destroy homes, which he claimed were being used by militants, and that residents would not return until northern Israel is safe.

The campaign would mirror the one in Gaza, in which Israeli forces flattened and largely depopulated the eastern half of the Palestinian territory, Katz said on Tuesday. Israel has said it won't withdraw from the enclave until Hamas disarms as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal.

“We have ordered an acceleration in the destruction of Lebanese homes in contact-line villages to neutralize threats to Israeli communities, in accordance with the model of Beit Hanoun and Rafah in Gaza,” Katz said, referring to border towns that were largely obliterated.

From one war to the next

After a 2024 ceasefire halted Israel's last war with Hezbollah, Israeli forces gradually withdrew from southern Lebanon except for five strategic hilltops along the border.

Lebanese returned to find that homes, infrastructure, and some entire villages destroyed. Israel said it had dismantled Hezbollah infrastructure that could have been used to launch an Oct. 7-style attack, and it continued to strike what it said were militant targets on a near-daily basis after the truce.

Hezbollah resumed it attacks after Israel and the United States launched the war with Iran on Feb. 28, accusing Israel of having repeatedly violated the ceasefire. Israel accused Lebanon's government of failing to carry out its pledge to disarm Hezbollah, despite its unprecedented steps toward criminalizing the group.

In the latest fighting, Israel has launched blistering air raids across Lebanon, killing more than 1,000 people — mostly outside of the border area — and displacing over a million. It has warned residents to evacuate a wide swath of the south, extending from the border to the Zahrani River, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) away.

The Israeli military says it has launched a limited ground operation. Political leaders speak of more ambitious plans.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister and a member of its Security Cabinet, said this week that the current war must end with “fundamental change.”

“The Litani must be our new border with the state of Lebanon,” he said.

Echoes of an earlier occupation Israel invaded southern Lebanon in 1982 during the country's civil war. Hezbollah, established that year, waged a guerrilla campaign that eventually ended the Israeli occupation in 2000.

This time around, Israel has bombed seven bridges over the Litani, the northern edge of a UN-patrolled buffer zone established after previous conflicts. Israel says Hezbollah was using the bridges to move fighters and weapons, and that its military will control the remaining crossings.

Heavy fighting has meanwhile erupted in the town of Khiam, the fall of which would cut off the south from Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, another area with a large Hezbollah presence.

After the bridges were bombed, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of seeking to sever the south from the rest of the country “to establish a buffer zone, entrench the reality of occupation, and pursue Israeli expansion within Lebanese territories.”

UN peacekeepers say the bombing of the bridges and ongoing clashes have hindered their operations and put personnel at risk.

“This is the closest fighting activity we have seen to our positions,” said Kandice Ardel, spokesperson for the UN mission known as UNIFIL. “Bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters.”

Ardel said peacekeepers at observation points have seen a growing presence of Israeli troops and “engineering assets,” though they have not seen any new military positions built yet.

‘Different shades’ of control

Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East think tank in Beirut, said Israel has already established “different shades” of control.

“The first line of borders is a no-man zone. This is basically a large parking lot that is facing Israel,” he said. “There is nothing there, no movement, nothing at all.”

Lebanese movement is restricted farther north. During last year's olive harvest, farmers struggled to reach their groves because of regular Israeli strikes and had to be accompanied by Lebanese troops and UNIFIL peacekeepers, who coordinated with Israel.

Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Alma Institute and a retired Israeli military officer, said Israel will likely establish a more extensive area of control stretching farther north.

She acknowledged that Israel was unlikely to defeat Hezbollah and was at risk of having to maintain a long-term presence in southern Lebanon.

“But the other alternative is to take the risk that we will be slaughtered. It’s as simple as that,” she said.

No diplomatic offramp in sight

Lebanon's government has broken a longstanding taboo by proposing direct talks with Israel. It has also taken action against Hezbollah since the last war, criminalizing its activities and claiming to have dismantled hundreds of military positions.

But neither the US nor Israel has shown any interest in such talks as they focus on the wider war with Iran.

If negotiations occur, Israel could demand major concessions in exchange for relinquishing territory taken by force — an updated version of the decades-old “land for peace” formula.

Israel seized parts of Syria after the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is in talks with the new government in Damascus about an updated security arrangement. In Gaza, it has vowed to keep half the territory until the militant Palestinian Hamas group lays down its arms, as each side has accused the other of violating the truce reached in October.

Lebanese who fled their homes are meanwhile in limbo — and some fear they may never return.

Elias Konsol and his neighbors fled the Christian border village of Alma al-Shaab with UNIFIL's help. He was reunited with his mother, who cried in his arms, at a church near Beirut where funeral services were being held for a resident killed in an Israeli strike.

Konsol said there were no weapons or Hezbollah fighters in his village, but it was forced to evacuate anyway.

“We no longer know our fate,” he said. “We don’t know if we will see our homes and village again.”

Arab World

Lebanon: Hezbollah Claims Targeting 10 Israeli Merkava Tanks

Israeli tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in northern Israel, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Israeli tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in northern Israel, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
TT
TT

Lebanon: Hezbollah Claims Targeting 10 Israeli Merkava Tanks

Israeli tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in northern Israel, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Israeli tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in northern Israel, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah group said Thursday that it struck10 Israeli Merkava tanks in three southern towns along the border.

In a series of separate statements, Hezbollah said that its members targeted the advanced Israeli tanks with guided missiles in the towns of Deir Siryan, Debel, and Al-Qantara, and achieved confirmed hits.

Earlier, Hezbollah said it targeted the headquarters of the Israeli Ministry of War in the center of Tel Aviv, and the Dolphin barracks of the Military Intelligence Division north of Tel Aviv with a number of missiles.

The Israeli military said an Israeli soldier was killed in fighting in south Lebanon after the army announced it was conducting ground operations against Hezbollah.

"Staff sergeant Ori Greenberg, aged 21, from Petah Tikva, a soldier of the Reconnaissance unit, Golani Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the military said.

In total, three Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in south Lebanon since Hezbollah drew the country into the Israel and US war on Iran by launching rocket attacks against Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel is responding by launching large-scale raids on Lebanon, while its forces have advanced into southern Lebanon.

After the Lebanese Presidency repeatedly announced its readiness to open direct negotiations with Israel in order to end the war, Hezbollah announced its refusal to negotiate "under fire."

Its Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said Wednesday in a statement: "When negotiating with the Israeli enemy under fire is proposed, it is an imposition of surrender and a deprivation of all of Lebanon's capabilities."

He called on the government to "reverse its decision to criminalize resistance and the resistance fighters," after announcing a ban on the party's security and military activities, as part of a series of unprecedented measures it has taken since the outbreak of the war.