How Israel sabotaged ceasefire deal through ‘blood document’
Protesters calling for the return of the hostages in Tel Aviv on 31 August 2024
Romana Rubeo reports in The Palestine Chronicle on 2 September 2024:
The paper reported that last May, Hamas “surprisingly agreed” to most of the terms of an agreement proposed by Israel aimed at achieving a ceasefire and reaching a prisoner exchange deal.
“However, within a few weeks, a new document was drafted by Israel, officially labeled as containing ‘clarifications’ but, in reality, including changes that effectively sabotaged any chance of an agreement,” according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
“In the afternoon of Saturday, July 27, Israel completed a seven-page document in English” which was sent to the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the three countries mediating between Israel and Hamas, according to the report.
The document was “submitted in its entirety” during a meeting in Rome by the head of Mossad, David Barnea, to top officials from these countries. It reportedly began with “two pages of text, not complete, followed by three pages of maps and two pages with tables”, including a list of some of the captives currently held in Gaza.
An unnamed Israeli senior official told Yedioth Ahronoth that “history will one day judge this document very harshly”. “The names of four of them are listed in the appendix at the end of the document. If it weren’t for the deliberate sabotage contained in the document to prevent a deal – there is a good chance that they would have been released already a month ago and are here with us alive,” the official reportedly added.
The official reportedly said that the document “dipped in the blood of the six murdered abductees”.