Israel Indicates it Will Allow Return of 150,000 Palestinians to North Gaza in Potential Truce

Jerusalem: As part of the American proposal made during the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, Israel is prepared to allow the return of 150,000 Palestinians to North Gaza without any security checks, Reuters reported, quoting two officials with knowledge of the talks. In return for this concession, Israel reportedly expects Hamas to hand over a list of female, elderly and infirm hostages that are still being held in Gaza. 

It may be recalled that Hamas and its affiliate terror groups had taken over 250 hostages during its October 7 attack on the southern part of Israel. Around 133 of those hostages remain in captivity within Gaza, dead or alive, and the Benjamin Netanyahu government is facing increasing pressure to bring them back six months into the conflict. 

As such, the prime concern for the Netanyahu government — which has not committed to a cessation of hostilities in Gaza — during the ceasefire negotiations is a deal to bring back the remaining hostages, possibly in return for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. 

While Israel has vowed to continue its military operations in Gaza until Hamas and its affiliate groups are wiped out in the enclave, it appears willing to make concessions on at least one of Hamas' demands during the ceasefire talks — the return of thousands of Palestinians who were displaced during the initial assault on the northern half of Gaza. 

However, the two officials quoted in the Reuters report said that Israel is of the view that Hamas does not want to strike a deal just yet. 

Indeed, on Tuesday, a representative from Hamas put out a statement saying that the latest proposal from the Israeli side is far from satisfactory when it comes to meeting the demands of the Palestinian people in general and Hamas in specific. 

The ongoing negotiations come at a time when Israel appears set on carrying out a ground assault on the city of Rafah near the Egyptian border. Over a million Gazans are sheltering in the area with little in the way of food, fuel, water or medicines and the international community has warned that a ground assault on Rafah would rapidly escalate the existing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel's insistence on the assault has only served to widen the rift with its closest ally, the US, which, among other things, has emphasised the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said during a television interview that “What he (Netanyahu) is doing is a mistake, I don't agree with his approach.”