Egypt and Qatar are negotiating a long-term ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that would include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for the return of all hostages, according to a BBC report published Tuesday.
The report came as the cash-strapped terrorist group, which ruled Gaza for nearly two decades before its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel started the current war, was said to be reinforcing its military ranks by enlisting 30,000 new recruits.
Mediators from Egypt and Qatar presented a new framework to both parties, which included a five-to-seven-year truce, an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, the release of all remaining Israeli hostages held in the enclave, and the release of an undisclosed number of Palestinian detainees, the report said citing an unnamed senior Palestinian official.
Meanwhile, a separate report by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya outlet said Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has enlisted approximately 30,000 new recruits. Most of the new fighters had previously undergone training in covert camps, the report said, adding that they lacked advanced combat skills, having been trained primarily in guerrilla warfare, basic rocket attacks, and the use of improvised explosives.
The recruitment campaign came as Hamas confronted severe operational challenges. The Iran-backed Islamist group was short on drones and long-range missile systems and had begun harvesting unexploded Israeli munitions from the battlefield to construct improvised explosive devices, the Al Arabiya report said.
National security expert Prof. Eitan Shamir said the new recruits were no substitute for the cadre of experienced operatives the group had lost since the war resumed in March — losses that, according to Israeli military estimates earlier this year, totaled around 20,000.
Shamir said the new recruits were likely “very young or old,” and largely “inexperienced and untrained.” He also noted that Hamas no longer had the experienced commanders or the equipment it once did.
“Even if the numbers [of operatives] partially rebound, it’s not the same Hamas,” Shamir told The Algemeiner.
2 comments:
The delusion of the two-state solution lives on with an oldie, full Israeli withdrawal (circa 2005) and Hamas ruling Gaza...again.
"seven-year truce" part of the seven-year covenant?
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