Hamas’s new political leader, Yahya Sinwar, has conveyed to Egyptian mediators an uncompromising stance in negotiations with Israel for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, sources told The National.
Sinwar was named the new political leader of the Palestinian resistance movement on Tuesday, following Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
As politburo chief, Haniyeh had led previous negotiations for a ceasefire from Qatar and Egypt.
Sinwar is currently inside the besieged Gaza Strip and, despite being pursued by Israeli forces, remains in contact with resistance fighters on the ground. Israel believes he is hiding in Hamas’ extensive network of underground tunnels in the strip.
Shortly after his appointment, Sinwar made contact with Egyptian mediators to convey his conditions for a ceasefire, which include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of high-profile Palestinian detainees, the sources said.
He also informed the Egyptians he was “uncompromisingly” opposed to the Palestinian Authority (PA) taking control of Gaza after the war. The PA, led by aging President Mahmoud Abbas, governs some aspects of life in the occupied West Bank but is viewed by many Palestinians as working on behalf of Israel and the occupation.
Sinwar also made it clear he rejects the deployment of a multinational force in postwar Gaza to maintain security until legislative and presidential elections are held.
“To Yahya Sinwar, the release of Palestinian prisoners is very high on his priorities,” one source told The National.
“He wants to see Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat freed and will not compromise on that,” said the source. Barghouti is the senior Fatah leader widely viewed as a possible successor to President Abbas, while Saadat is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader.
Both men are popular Palestinian leaders who have spent decades in Israeli prisons.
Sinwar conveyed his conditions to the Egyptian mediators through Khalil al-Hayya, his deputy, who also spoke for him during months of negotiations between Hamas and Israel through mediators from the US, Egypt, and Qatar.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to make new demands beyond those Israel had already agreed to.
Last week, Netanyahu said that Israeli forces occupying Gaza would not leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing near the Egypt border.
In response, senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Army Chief Herzi Halevi, told Netanyahu at a security meeting that his insistence on new terms would sabotage current ceasefire negotiations.
Channel 12 news reported that Halevi and Gallant accuse Netanyahu of being “well aware that the new conditions he is demanding, which have reportedly been included in an updated Israeli proposal, would doom the deal.”
Netanyahu’s objectives in Gaza remain unclear.
Some ministers in Netanyahu’s government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, insist the war must continue. They say they wish to destroy Gaza, ethnically cleanse the strip of its 2.3 million indigenous Palestinian inhabitants, and settle Israeli Jews in their place.
Israel’s army and air force have killed over 39,000 Palestinians since the start of the war, the majority women and children.