The only acceptable deal is a complete deal that ends the war.

Israeli news reported last night that "Hamas" agreed to return to negotiations regarding what is called the "Witkoff deal" - the bad deal that returns half of the Israeli hostages (alive and dead) and guarantees a ceasefire for 60 days. To my knowledge, this is a lie. When negotiations took place regarding the 60-day ceasefire last month and the month before, "Hamas" did not understand why Israel insisted on demanding only half of the hostages - why not all of them? It became clear to them that the reason was that Netanyahu refused to end the war, and thus Israel would not negotiate for all the hostages. "Hamas" was genuinely puzzled because it had asserted for over a year that ending the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza were the only things that would lead to the release of all hostages.

In October 2024, I was in Doha and heard from the Qatari mediation that "Hamas" was willing to release all hostages in exchange for the same demands it is making today: ending the war, no Israeli soldiers in Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners under an agreement, and a significant increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza and distributed by international organizations. Even at that time, as is the case today, and as I received from "Hamas" in August 2024, a written statement in Arabic and English confirmed that "Hamas" would no longer govern Gaza, and a professional Palestinian technocrat government would be formed with full powers and would not include "Hamas."

Throughout last week, members of the "Hamas" negotiating team, including the head of the team Khalil al-Hayya, were in Cairo where they met with the Egyptian intelligence apparatus, including its head, and with the Qatari mediation that was also in Cairo. During the week, the mediation informed the "Hamas" team that Israel would only agree to a partial deal and not a "war-ending deal." They then heard Netanyahu say that Israel would only accept a complete deal that releases all hostages. They also heard that the head of the Mossad was in Qatar and told the Qataris that Israel would only agree to a comprehensive deal that releases all hostages. The "Hamas" team became more confused. The mediation was pushing them toward a partial deal, while they believed that Netanyahu was only interested in a comprehensive deal. But then Netanyahu continued to talk about fully occupying Gaza and said that Israel would exercise sovereignty over the entire West Bank and spoke of "Greater Israel."

There is no ambiguity here. Netanyahu is still trying to sell us the same old lie that Israel will force "Hamas" to kneel, and then all hostages will return. Israel told the mediation that it would only accept a partial deal, just to extend negotiations while the war continues. Netanyahu has no intention of making any agreement with "Hamas," and "Hamas" will never surrender to Israel. In the meantime, Netanyahu convinced President Trump that if Israel withdrew from Gaza, "Hamas" would be the only armed force that would continue to control Gaza, and then it would rebuild its forces and threaten Israel again. Although "Hamas" is exhausted and has no real military capacity to threaten Israel, and all its political leaders and most of its military leaders have been killed, Netanyahu continues to scare the Israeli people (and President Trump) that the events of October 7 could be repeated. This largely convinced Trump when the American president said, "Israel will do what it needs to do. It's an Israeli decision." The videos showing the two Israeli captives, Rom Braslovsky and Evyatar David, who appeared to be suffering from starvation and resembled survivors of Nazi concentration camps, prompted Trump to change his stance. Trump saw those clips and decided that Israel must continue to destroy "Hamas" to the end. Trump was emotionally affected by those clips, and if there was any chance before seeing them that he would ask Netanyahu to end the war and "finish it," after watching them he became more inclined to allow the war to continue - as long as Israel allowed more food to enter Gaza. Witkoff was sent to Israel to ensure that this happened, and he even went to one of the distribution centers of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to see it for himself.

From what I heard from senior American officials involved in the negotiations, the United States wants to end the war. But they believe the claim made by Netanyahu in his meetings with Trump - that there is no acceptable Palestinian or Arab alternative to "Hamas" in Gaza. While Netanyahu does not want any sustainable Palestinian or Arab government to emerge in Gaza that has the support of the region, the United States, and the Palestinian people themselves, it seems that the Americans want that. But from my perspective, despite what has been published a little in the Israeli newspapers, this will not come from an American initiative. Egypt has been working on