Can Netanyahu afford to reject Hamas’s ceasefire deal?

A day after it seemed that a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel was all but dead, the terror group has issued a surprise statement announcing that it has accepted the deal offered by Egypt and Qatar. Optimism, though, would be premature at this point.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under considerable public pressure to reach a deal that will secure the release of Israeli hostages, has said the proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire is ‘far from Israel’s basic requirements’. Meanwhile, late on Monday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it was conducting targeted strikes against Hamas targets in eastern Rafah.

Despite this military action and Netanyahu’s rejection of the ceasefire, negotiations are continuing. The latest sticking point between the two countries arises from the fact that the deal accepted by Hamas appears to be somewhat different to the one they had been considering in the last few days.