Gaza Peace Talks: The Key Stick Points

The negotiators of Israel and Hamas go to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to start indirect discussions at the end of the War of Israel-Gaza.

It is the nearest two parties have come to an agreement since the start of the war two years ago

But the 20 -point peace plan by Donald Trump – which Israel has accepted and Hamas has partly accepted – is only a framework, only a few pages.

And there are still major bonding points for both sides to be resolved.

Trump’s plan stipulates that within 72 hours of an agreed agreement, all the remaining hostages would be published. It is believed that 48 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, 20 of which are supposed to be alive.

Trump said on weekends, hostages could be released “very soon”, while Netanyahu said they could be released before the Jewish holiday soukkot – or October 13.

Hamas has accepted the “exchange formula” in detailed hostage in Trump’s plan, providing certain “field conditions”.

But hostages are the only group’s negotiation chip – and it is not clear if it would be willing to release them before other elements of the agreement are finalized.

The confidence between the two parties is practically nonexistent. Last month, Israel tried to assassinate the Hamas negotiation team with an air strike on Doha – angry not only Hamas but also Donald Trump and Qatar, a key mediator.

The members of this same negotiation team – managed by Khalil al -Hayya, whose son was killed in the strike – will now meet a stone’s throw from the Israeli delegation in Egypt.

Israel’s declared objective throughout the war was the destruction of Hamas. Netanyahu said on several occasions that he would not stop before the group’s end.

A key point of Trump’s plan requires that the group will disarm. But Hamas previously refused to dispose of its weapons, saying that it would only do it once a Palestinian state has been established.

In her answer, Hamas has made no mention of disarmament – fueling speculation that it has not changed its position.

During the weekend, Netanyahu has sworn: “Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized – either the simplest way or the road to the hard”.

The plan indicates that Hamas will have no future role in Gaza, which will be governed by a temporary transitional body of Palestinian technocrats – supervised by a “peace council” led and chaired by Donald Trump and involving the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The governance of the band would ultimately be given to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Although Netanyahu accepted all of Trump’s 20 point plan, he seemed to repel the participation of the AP while he was standing on the podium next to the president last week, insisting that he would play no role in the governance of the territory.

This is one of the many points of the plan which will be reprehensible for ultra -nationalist backgrounds within the governing coalition of Netanyahu – many of which wish to maintain control of Gaza and rebuild Jewish colonies.

In Hamas’ response, he indicated that he expects to have a future role in Gaza as part of “a unified Palestinian movement”. Although the label is vague, it will probably be unacceptable for Trump and the Israelis.

The magnitude of Israel’s military withdrawal is a fourth discord.

The plan stipulates that the Israeli soldiers will withdraw from Gaza “according to standards, milestones and deadlines” which must be contained by all parties.

A map distributed by the White House showed three proposed stages of withdrawal from Israeli troops. The first step leaves around 55% Gaza under Israeli control, the second 40% and the 15% final.

This last step would be a “security perimeter” which “would remain until Gaza is correctly sure of any resident terrorist threat”.

The wording here is vague and gives no clear chronology for the full Israeli withdrawal – which Hamas is likely to want to clarity.

In addition, the card shared by the White House does not correspond to the own cards of the Israeli army showing militarized areas, and the Gaza borders are incorrectly drawn in places.