The American Wall Street Journal, which is close to the Israeli security establishment, said that “changes on the battlefield” in the Gaza Strip have stimulated the revival of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, after weeks in which the negotiations seemed to be completely stalled.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send a delegation to resume indirect negotiations with Hamas, the day after the movement announced that it had exchanged new “ideas” with the mediators to end the war.

After weeks in which it seemed that ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas had stalled, a shift in the backdrop giving them new life, negotiators suddenly resumed negotiations on Friday in Doha, Qatar, shortly after Israel signaled it was preparing to end major military operations. In Gaza after nine months of war.

“This unilateral shift in strategy has created an opportunity for both sides. Civilians in Gaza and Israel have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress, international pressure continues to mount, and both armies are battered and looking to regroup for future battles,” according to the newspaper. .

Significant disagreements, especially over the duration of any ceasefire, stand in the way of reaching an agreement. Rounds of talks collapsed in the months following a week-long ceasefire in late November, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar showing little inclination to reach a settlement, but circumstances have changed for both sides.

The newspaper quotes Ofer Shelah, a former Israeli lawmaker and military analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies: “Time is passing and all parties realize that time is not working in their favor, especially the Israeli side.”

Israel sent a delegation to Doha, where participants included David Barnea, who heads the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, and the Prime Minister of Qatar. Officials from the United States and Egypt also participated in efforts to reach an agreement to end the war and release hostages held by Hamas. President Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday that it was time to reach an agreement.

Barnea returned to Israel on Friday after the conclusion of the talks with the mediators in Doha, and negotiations will continue next week, according to what Netanyahu’s office announced on Friday. She added that gaps between the two sides still exist.

The newspaper notes that: “At the heart of the impasse that reached the previous rounds was Hamas’s insistence that Israel declare a permanent ceasefire, and Netanyahu’s refusal to do so or accept any deal that would enable Hamas to remain as a military or ruling force in Gaza.”

As for Israel, “the shift in battlefield calculations has led analysts to conclude that the Israeli security establishment, which includes the army, Mossad and the Shin Bet internal security service, is now pressuring the Israeli government to reach an agreement.”

The newspaper says, “Israel is scheduled to soon end its military operation in Rafah, which it described as the last stronghold of Hamas and part of a smuggling route that has allowed the continued flow of weapons into southern Gaza. Israel said that its army is moving to a less intense counter-insurgency campaign, consisting of raids.” It relies on intelligence in areas that see armed groups trying to regroup. Despite this shift, targeted raids in the enclave will still involve air strikes and intense fighting, and could continue for years, analysts say.

As long as the Rafah operation was continuing apace, the Israeli government and army could point to the necessity of continuing the fight to destroy Hamas. With the announcement of the completion of major operations in Gaza, and the army’s increasing concern about the escalation of the raging conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah on the northern border of Israel, the moment may be appropriate to reach an agreement, according to the report.

Shelah told the newspaper: “Despite all this bravado, the Israeli security establishment is coming to understand... that the potential achievements of continued fighting in Gaza are very small, and perhaps even negative.” “For this reason, the hostage deal, beyond its obvious value, is also a way to end it.”

Mossad officials told the countries mediating the talks that they were optimistic that the Israeli government would accept the latest proposal, according to an official familiar with the negotiations.

"The movement on Hamas's part appears to be opening the door to the possibility of new talks. Hamas said on Wednesday that its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had recently conveyed ideas for reaching an agreement to mediators in Qatar and Egypt — proposals that a senior Israeli official said contained enough changes to justify moving forward." In conversations."

It is noteworthy that a senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden said that the new proposals from Hamas, which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization, indicate its willingness to reach a compromise, achieving “a breakthrough in a critical impasse.”

In turn, the senior Israeli official told the newspaper, “The main change was Hamas’s shift away from demanding complete Israeli withdrawal during the first phase of the deal, a phase that will include the release of some hostages during the proposed six-week ceasefire.”

Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence, said that the United States, through Qatar and Egypt, is now putting great pressure on Hamas to reach an agreement. Qatar threatened to expel the group's political leadership from its capital. Israeli military pressure on the ground, especially its seizure of Gaza's roughly 9-mile-long southern border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, also helped push the militant group back to the negotiating table, Yadlin said.

It will not be clear whether Hamas's military and political leadership is committed to this shift unless the talks make progress, and "Sinwar has consistently resisted a ceasefire, believing that further fighting and Palestinian civilian deaths work to his advantage, according to letters he sent to mediators."

The newspaper claims that Hamas faced increasing internal pressure to end the war from Gazans suffering widespread destruction, deaths, displacement, and the collapse of law and order.

About 38,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed during the war, according to Palestinian officials, who did not specify the number of fighters. Public expressions of discontent with Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, have increased in recent months, as well as frustration with the failure of Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement.

According to the report, Palestinians in Gaza, who were already struggling to adapt to the fighting and severe food shortages, are now facing waves of crime and violence after Israel broke Hamas' grip on public order.

While the Hamas leadership in Gaza is believed to be wedded to its vast underground tunnel network, all of these factors could be behind its willingness to return to talks, said Gershon Baskin, the former hostage negotiator who facilitated the 2011 agreement with Hamas that freed the Israelis. Soldier Gilad Shalit from captivity in Gaza.

Baskin said: “Hamas is not completely isolated from what is happening on the ground.”

Hamas has also faced increasing pressure from Egypt and Qatar to reach an agreement, including threats from Doha to expel the group's political leadership.

“Continuing the war in Gaza will also be costly for Israel, an increasingly isolated country targeted by international legal challenges to its military campaign, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages in Gaza, according to Israel.” .

The ceasefire could also provide a respite for Israeli soldiers who have served for several months and who may be stretched further due to the war with Hezbollah.

The families of the Israeli hostages have been protesting for months to pressure the Israeli government to reach an agreement and rescue their loved ones. Of the hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack, 116 are still being held in Gaza, including at least 42 dead, according to Israel. The released hostages say the rest face the risk of malnutrition, lack of medical care and the dangers of Israeli air strikes.

While protests at the beginning of the war initially called for the hostages to be released by any means possible, including through military operations, many families are now declaring that a ceasefire agreement is the only way they believe their relatives will be released.