Unlike the Security Council, which adopted a resolution on a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, the UN General Assembly has so far continued the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the Lebanese Allah Party has continued to attack Israeli military targets and the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea in Yemen has spread the conflict and posed a serious challenge to the security of the entire Middle East region.
It is unusual that, despite the fact that Israel has been on the offensive in Gaza and has absolute initiative on the battlefield, it has recently offered to cease fire.
According to local reports, Israel submitted a proposal to Hamas through Qatar on the release of the detained hostages, expressing its willingness to negotiate with Hamas to plan the release of 40 Israeli hostages.
In exchange, Israel is willing to cease fire in the Gaza Strip for a week and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. At present, this news has been confirmed by the Israeli high-level**.
Meanwhile, senior heads of Hamas's institutions arrived in Egypt on December 20 for talks with Egypt on the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.
Both of these initiatives appear to indicate the interest of both Israel and Hamas in negotiating a humanitarian ceasefire at this stage. However, the statement of the spokesman of Hamas** gives the impression that things are not so simple.
A spokesman for Hamas** said Hamas was reluctant to discuss the release of more Israeli hostages unless Israel halted its military operations in Gaza and provided more humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
He noted that Hamas would not agree to a temporary ceasefire and discuss the release of the hostages until these two conditions were met. If Israel continues to carry out military strikes on Gaza, Hamas will not be involved in negotiations, and any proposal for the release or exchange of Israeli hostages must be made after the Israeli army ceases its attacks on Gaza.
The Hamas spokesman added that at the moment Hamas is not considering a temporary ceasefire through the mutual release of hostages, and will only consider a permanent ceasefire if Israel meets the conditions. Therefore, unless Israel accepts Hamas's demands, it is unlikely that there will be any peace talks at this time.
The Israeli side may not easily agree to the proposal for a permanent ceasefire. Israel has repeatedly stated that it will consider ending the conflict only when Hamas is defeated and Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again stressed that the conflict over the Gaza Strip can be ended only if Hamas is completely destroyed.
Given the current clear divergence of objectives between Israel and Hamas, the intervention of the international community and increased pressure on Israel are needed to bring about a comprehensive ceasefire as soon as possible and put an end to a conflict that has already provoked a grave humanitarian catastrophe.