Israel’s top cease-fire negotiator made a new offer to Hamas leaders: Enjoy safe passage to another country if you lay down your arms and release the hostages.
The proposal from Israeli spy chief David Barnea, made in a meeting with Egyptian officials this past week to break the impasse, was swiftly rejected by the U.S.-designated terrorist group, Arab mediators said.
Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s top cease-fire negotiator, said the offer showed how Israel was still misreading the group and warned it could continue fighting for months, if not years, the mediators said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has reiterated that we are willing to give them safe passage if they lay down their arms and release the hostages,” said Ophir Falk, the prime minister’s foreign-policy adviser. “At the same time, anyone who will hurt the hostages will be hunted down.”
Hamas didn’t respond to a request for comment.
-WSJ 10/25/2024