A senior Hamas official has rejected Israeli media reports claiming that a proposal is being put forward which includes the possibility of exiling Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, from Gaza to Sudan.
“This is a ridiculous illusion,” said Izzat Al-Rishq. Hamas, he pointed out, is present in Palestine to fight the enemy that occupies Palestine. “Logic dictates that the criminal occupier leaves and the people of the land and its original inhabitants remain.”
Haaretz reported on Monday that, “Officials in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are studying the possibility of reaching a [ceasefire] deal that would lead to the release of the [Israeli] hostages, including allowing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to leave the Gaza Strip for Sudan.”
According to the newspaper, the Israeli officials believe that the departure of Sinwar and other Hamas officials would make it possible to end the movement’s de facto government in Gaza and free the hostages. The deal may also include lifting the freeze on Hamas assets, which Sudan froze about three years ago, after the US revoked its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
In recent months, noted Haaretz, Netanyahu has said several times that he will not insist on killing Sinwar and other senior Hamas officials, and does not rule out the possibility of exiling them to a third country, as part of an agreement to end the war.
It added that Israeli officials hope that Sinwar will prefer to leave Gaza to a third country, rather than die in the tunnels. In exile, “He will be able to rebuild Hamas’s infrastructure and return to Gaza later, as a victor, according to his likely thinking.”
The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Tuesday distancing itself from the Israeli report. “Dragging Sudan’s name into this matter is nothing more than an attempt to offend it and divert attention from the external aggression it is facing, supported by well-known regional circles,” said the ministry.
US media outlets have quoted American officials as saying that, “Sinwar has taken more hard-line positions in recent weeks, as the war in the Gaza Strip approaches its second year.” The officials said that Hamas had shown no desire at all to participate in talks in recent weeks, while the New York Times reported that Netanyahu had rejected proposals made during negotiations, which complicated them.
Earlier, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that Israel had put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, which included Sinwar’s fate. The proposal, said the corporation, stipulates the release of all Israeli prisoners at once, and securing Sinwar’s exit from Gaza, along with any Hamas member who wishes to leave the enclave.
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