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Long-Term Ceasefire Talks Deadlocked as Hamas Makes Extreme Demands

(JNS) Yaakov Lappin - Col. (res.) David Hacham, an Arab-affairs adviser to seven Israeli defense ministers and a senior research associate at the Miryam Institute, told JNS that Hamas' refusal to come up with realistic proposals for a deal to release the remains of two IDF soldiers killed in the 2014 war, in addition to two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza, is the central impasse blocking a broader arrangement between Israel and Gaza. Israel has linked progress on this issue to progress on Gaza's reconstruction. Throughout the deliberations, Israel has ensured a constant humanitarian flow of basic goods, food and medical supplies into Gaza. Hacham explained: "Hamas is an enemy. It is guided, conceptually and ideologically, by a call for Israel's destruction. It does not recognize Israel. Hamas has not changed its ideology, concepts or objectives, and it can't change them." Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987, "told me, 'Our charter was drawn up by God. So humans cannot change our charter.'...For tactical reasons, it is willing to reach ceasefires, but not at the cost of recognition of Israel or acceptance of Israel."
2021-08-26 00:00:00
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