Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
2 December 2024 | 15:26 CAT
4-minute read

• Gaza ceasefire discussions underway in Cairo
• Hamas military operations continue in Gaza
• Ben-Gvir issues orders to prevent adhan on loudspeakers

Gaza ceasefire discussions underway in Cairo

Fatah and Hamas delegations are in Cairo to discuss proposals put forward by Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing and a potential ceasefire deal.

The terms of the ceasefire deal include the exchange of Israeli prisoners of war for Palestinian hostages, gradual withdrawal of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from Gaza and the establishment of a US-led committee to oversee the ceasefire deal.

The ceasefire proposal includes shot-term breaks of 7-10 days, building towards a more lasting peace, although Egyptian officials are pushing for longer intervals of 3-6 weeks.

The deal proposes a series of short ceasefires of 7-10 days that will eventually lead to a permanent suspension of hostilities. Egypt has proposed an extension of the duration to 3-6 weeks.

Reports indicate that the discussion, mediated by Egypt, also includes “Day After Governance” agreements between Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas.

“[There are] bilateral meetings that are taking place between Fatah and Hamas that the Egyptians are mediating, and the [Egyptians] are proposing something called the Community Support Committee, in which they hope to see Hamas and Fatah coming together in some way to be able to address the governance of Gaza and the rebuilding of Gaza after the war,” Moulana Ebrahim Moosa of the Palestine Information Network said earlier today on Radio Islam International’s Palestine Report.

Hamas has expressed willingness to discuss the proposals to end Israel’s onslaught on Gaza to facilitate the return of displaced people to their homes, the exchange of prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Analysts say the push for a ceasefire is based on Trump’s inclination to secure a deal for the release of prisoners of war from Gaza before his inauguration in January 2025 as stated by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

The “Day After War” mediation talks between Fatah and Hamas have been described as problematic, based on the role that Mahmoud Abbas will play in governing the enclave once Israel evacuates. Abbas, who is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority, is considered a “compromised figure” in the political structure of the region and has been criticised for being overly aligned with US and Israeli interests.

Additionally, based on the US’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza, the American steering committee that will oversee the implementation of the ceasefire poses significant problems. According to analysts, Egypt’s involvement poses another stumbling block because of its alignment with US and Israeli interests.

“Americans have proven their duplicity in this genocide and in the negotiations time after time. So I don’t think anybody would have any faith in the Americans giving guarantees to this. And lastly, the duplicitous role being played by the Egyptians, where according to reports, Egyptian officials have seemingly sought to soften Hamas’ stance, conveying to Hamas that its negotiation position had apparently weakened since being isolated by the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” Moulana Moosa said.

Egyptian officials reportedly told Hamas that it would no longer be in a position to continue demanding the full withdrawal of Israel from Gaza. “The Egyptians are playing not a mediating role, but actually doing the bidding of the Americans and the Israelis that doesn’t lend support to this being a credible deal,” Moulana Moosa said.

Hamas military operations continue in Gaza

A detailed video released by the Al-Qassam Brigades on Sunday depicts a complex ambush against IOF near the Burj Awad junction in the Jeneina neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.

The operation was reportedly carried out in “revenge and victory for the blood of our great leader, the great martyr Yahya Al-Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim, who ascended as a clashing fighter on the land of the Rafah Batallion.”

The video outlines the plan to open fire on Zionist soldiers, followed by firing Israeli tanks with Al-Yassin-105 anti-armour missiles and preventing the entry of any IOF reinforcements.

According to a later Al-Qassam report, its fighters targeted a D9 Zionist military bulldozer with a Sadmiyya explosive on Friday afternoon. This was followed by an attack on an IOF Merkava tank with a Shuath explosive on Saturday.

In another video published by the Al-Qassam Brigades, an Israeli-American prisoner of war, Edan Alexander, describes the high levels of fear that he and other prisoners are experiencing due to Israel’s continued onslaught on Gaza, saying that “we are dying a thousand times a day”. His message includes a call on Israeli citizens to take to the streets to protest Netanyahu’s reign and on the US administration to halt its complicity in starving and killing Israeli prisoners in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir issues orders to prevent adhan on loudspeakers

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed police to prevent Masajid from calling adhan aloud.

The widely condemned policy will allow police to enter masajid to confiscate loudspeaker equipment if found to be in use, as well as issue fines to masajid found to be broadcasting the adhan aloud.

Palestinians have voiced their resistance to the new policy, saying that they will resist the “Crime Against Masajid”.

“One group have said that these practices represent an act of bullying against the tru owners of the land, whom the occupation government seeks to marginalise and treat as a minority after forcefully displacing the vast majority of them from their homes and lands,” Moulana Moosa reported.

The policy, first proposed in 2016, has even met with criticism of Israel’s opposition, including Labour MK Gilad Kariv, who reportedly wrote in a post on X that Ben Gvir “endangers the State of Israel”, warning that the minister “won’t stop, until in the end, a match sets the barrel on fire.”

Listen to the Palestine Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat.