Middle Eastern and U.S. officials believe the devastating damage inflicted on Gaza by nine months of Israeli attacks likely contributed to Hamas softening its demands for a ceasefire.
Hamas over the weekend appeared to back away from a long-standing demand that Israel commit to ending the war as part of any ceasefire deal, raising new hopes for progress in internationally mediated negotiations.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted on Sunday that military pressure, including a two-month Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, had pushed Hamas into negotiations.
Hamas, the Islamic extremist group that seeks to destroy Israel, is extremely secretive and little is known about its internal affairs.
But in a recent internal communication reviewed by The Associated Press, a message signed by several senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip urged the group’s exiled political leadership to accept a ceasefire proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The messages, released by a Middle Eastern official familiar with the ongoing negotiations, described Hamas’s heavy losses on the battlefield and the dire situation in the war-torn region. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose internal Hamas communications, said:
It’s unclear whether this internal pressure is a factor in Hamas’ flexibility, but the messages indicate divisions within the group and that top fighters are willing to reach an agreement quickly, even if their most senior leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has been in hiding since the war began last October and is believed to be hiding out in deep underground tunnels.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the communication.
But a person familiar with Western intelligence, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, said Hamas leadership understood its forces had suffered heavy losses, which helped it move closer to a ceasefire agreement.
Two U.S. officials said the United States is aware of divisions within Hamas and that those divisions, the destruction of the Gaza Strip and pressure from mediators Egypt and Qatar may have led Hamas to soften its demands for a deal. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s view of the situation.
Middle Eastern officials shared details of two internal Hamas communications, both written by senior officials in the Gaza Strip to the exiled leadership in Qatar, where Hamas’ supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is based.
The communications suggest that the war is taking a toll on Hamas fighters and that senior officials are urging Hamas’ political wing abroad to accept the deal, despite Sinwar’s reluctance.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha denied any suggestion of a split within the group. “The organization’s position is unified and is embodied through the organizational framework of the leadership,” he said.
Intelligence officials provided The Associated Press with records of the communications, written in Arabic, but did not provide specific details about how they were obtained or what the original text of the communications was. The officials said the communications took place in May and June and came from senior officials in the group’s military wing in the Gaza Strip.
The message acknowledged that Hamas fighters had been killed and the extensive damage caused by Israeli attacks on Gaza, but also suggested that Sinwar had not fully acknowledged the damage caused by the fighting or communicated it to those negotiating outside the territory.
It was unclear whether Haniyeh or other Qatari officials responded. Israeli officials declined to comment on the communication. Egypt and Qatar did not immediately comment.
Egypt and Qatar have been working with the United States to broker a ceasefire to end the devastating nine-month war. After months of intermittent talks, negotiations resumed last week and are expected to continue in the coming days.
An agreement is still not guaranteed — Netanyahu’s office said over the weekend that gaps remain. U.S. officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the prospects for a ceasefire given the latest developments, but stressed that many efforts that looked promising have failed.
Still, the two sides appear to be closer to an agreement than they have been in months.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas invaded southern Israel in October and launched attacks that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Since then, Israeli air and ground strikes have killed more than 38,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. International officials say the attacks have caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.
Hamas and Egyptian officials confirmed Saturday that Hamas had dropped a key demand that Israel commit to an end to the war, a demand that Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected and talks have been stalled for months.
Instead, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations, said a phased agreement would start with a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas would release elderly, sick and female hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. “Talks on a broader agreement, including an end to the war, will only begin at this stage,” they said.
Netanyahu has vowed that even if the hostages are released, Israel will continue to fight until it has destroyed Hamas’ military power and ability to govern.
