Egyptian intelligence thwarted a potential ceasefire deal in Gaza this month after Israel quietly changed the terms before presenting other proposals to Hamas and adding more of their demands, ‘affected’ US officials claim.
Three sources revealed CNN On Tuesday, the deal fell apart after senior Egyptian intelligence official Ahmed Abdel Khalek made secret last-minute changes to an offer to Hamas without informing the Israelis.
The quiet adjustments left fellow mediators, the US and Qatar, in the dark, with one source claiming: ‘We were all duped’.
The ceasefire deal that Hamas announced on May 6 was not what the Qataris or Americans thought it was submitted to Hamas for a possible final review, sources said.
Khalek had offered a set of conditions to Israel, while presenting another to Hamas, in which Palestinian leaders received more of their demands, CNN reported.
According to US officials, Egyptian intelligence covertly changed the terms of a ceasefire agreement already signed by Israel before presenting several proposals to Hamas. In the photo: the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, May 22, 2024
An Egyptian source told the newspaper that a day before Hamas publicly announced its agreement to the proposal on May 6, Egypt had received Hamas’s response and passed it on to Israel.
Israeli soldiers with their tanks gather at a secret location near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, May 21, 2024
“All parties assumed that the Egyptians provided the same document,” which Israel approved, one of the sources revealed.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani assured Mossad that Egypt had acted alone in implementing the changes, two sources added.
The details signed by Hamas include the goal of reaching a permanent ceasefire and a “durable calm” during the second phase of the three-part agreement, according to a Hamas document obtained by the outlet.
Hamas announced on May 6 that it had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire, but Israeli officials backtracked, claiming they had not approved the proposed framework because it was a “softened” version of what was originally put forward and that contained ‘far-reaching’ conclusions. that Israel could not accept.
An Israeli official told Reuters at the time that it was a ploy by the terror group, hoping to create resistance against Israel for not agreeing to the deal.
The changes made by Egyptian intelligence reportedly sparked anger among Israel, the US and Qatar against the Egyptians, with one source claiming the Egyptians had “deceived us all.”
An Egyptian source told the newspaper that a day before Hamas publicly announced its agreement to the proposal on May 6, Egypt had received Hamas’s response and passed it on to Israel.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani assured Mossad that Egypt had acted alone in implementing the changes
A woman rescues items from a waste dump spreading along a tent camp west of Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024
Civil defense teams and civilians carry out search and rescue operations under the destroyed building after the Israeli attack on the Az-Zawayda neighborhood, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on May 22, 2024
Hamas announced on May 6 that it had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire, but Israeli officials backtracked, claiming they had not approved the proposed framework because it was a “softened” version of what was originally put forward and that contained ‘far-reaching’ conclusions. that Israel could not accept
“Several alternatives and scenarios were proposed to overcome the main bone of contention regarding ending the war,” the source said.
“Hamas told its people: ‘Tomorrow we will have a deal,’” the first source said.
But what Hamas gave back, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, was “very far from Israel’s core demands.”
CIA Director Bill Burns, who played a role in orchestrating the unchanged version of the hostage deal, was reportedly both angry and embarrassed that the deal had been amended without the knowledge of the US or Israel.
Burns “nearly blew a beating,” the source said, as Khalek had been the director’s counterpart in leading Egyptian mediation in the ceasefire talks.
Following the outrage over the under-the-table change in terms and the current stagnation in the ceasefire negotiations, alarm bells are now ringing among those involved as questions arise about Egypt’s motives, despite the country has played an important mediating role between Israel and Hamas. For several years.
The changes come less than a month after a group of Egyptian negotiators flew to Israel to hammer out some final details of a framework that would lead to a temporary halt to fighting in Gaza and the release of some Israeli hostages and more Palestinians. prisoners.
Palestinians inspect damage after Israeli attacks on May 22, 2024
A Palestinian youth inspects the damage after the Israeli bombardment early May 22, 2024
The talks had been going on for several months after the last lull in the conflict fell apart in December.
Hopes were raised that a peace deal was near as Israel agreed to go further than before after appearing willing to take fewer hostages while releasing more Palestinian prisoners and allowing Gazans into the southern part of the enclave. to return home. north unlimited.
If the talks go ahead, the Qataris are expected to play a more prominent role, one of the sources revealed, although Egypt is still expected to be a central figure in the discussions given their relationship with Hamas.
Discussions are still expected to center around a framework that would initially release up to 33 Israeli hostages over a period of at least six weeks.
Hamas has called for the bodies of the dead hostages to be taken, as well as for the two stages to be merged without a break in between – both demands that Israel has rejected.
Israeli bombing and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them children and women, according to Gaza health officials.
More than 80 percent of the country’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes, and hundreds of thousands of people in the north are on the brink of famine, according to the UN.
