In mid-April, Egypt delivered Israel’s latest proposal to Hamas: a temporary, 45-day truce in exchange for the release of 12 Israeli captives and 16 bodies. This time, however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added a condition that prompted Hamas to immediately reject the offer — a demand for the group’s complete disarmament, without any commitment to ending the war, withdrawing Israeli forces from Gaza, or halting the ethnic cleansing.
The truth is, Israel’s insistence on Hamas’ disarmament is a red herring designed to sabotage any meaningful progress in the ceasefire talks and allow the genocide to continue. This was made abundantly clear when Israel’s government adopted plans to conquer and permanently occupy all of Gaza, squeeze the population into concentration camps near the border with Egypt and force as many as possible to leave, and maintain that apparatus even after all Israeli captives are released. ….more