Iran: Our Priority is an Agreement Acceptable to Hamas in Gaza, Separate from Our Duty for the Inevitable Response/ Israeli Broadcast: Washington Has Set the Negotiation Date Based on the Estimated Timing of Hezbollah’s Response / Netanyahu: Ready to Negotiate the Agreement, but Not Its Implementation… Al-Qassam Brigades Pledge Allegiance to Sinwar and Prepare for Operations

The political editor wrote

Just one day after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a Gaza agreement and secured the signatures of the Emir of Qatar and the Egyptian President, presenting them as unified mediators on an agreement that he announced is nearly finalised, with only implementation details remaining and having extended invitations to both the Israeli government and Hamas leadership for negotiations next Thursday to finalise the deal, the initial momentum has already begun to fade.

This decline is particularly evident after Israeli broadcasters publicly linked the proposed negotiation date to attempts at influencing the timing of Iran and Hezbollah’s responses, following Israel’s red-line violations with airstrikes on the capitals of Lebanon and Iran, which killed two senior leaders.

Meanwhile, Iran has emphasised that its top priority is an agreement on Gaza that Hamas finds acceptable, while making it clear that this is separate from Iran’s obligation to retaliate for the attacks on Tehran and the assassination of senior resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh.

On the other side, Benjamin Netanyahu has significantly undermined the mediators’ initiative by announcing that he will send a negotiating team, but only to renegotiate the entire agreement—its terms and framework—rather than focusing solely on implementation, as the statement had suggested.

Palestinian sources closely monitoring the negotiations suggest that this move could turn the talks into a stalling tactic to delay the resistance’s response, with no genuine intent to reach an agreement, and with little to no American willingness to pressure Netanyahu into accepting a deal. Instead, it seems that Washington’s objective is to frame the negotiations as a reward for Netanyahu, rather than as a form of accountability or atonement for his actions, effectively shielding him from the political consequences of his aggressive behaviour.

Netanyahu, with American backing and military might under the guise of protecting the entity from retaliations, is showing no willingness to reach an agreement that meets the resistance’s demands. Internal discussions within the entity suggest a shift in the balance of power following the occupation army’s strikes in Beirut and Tehran. This suggests that Netanyahu, having already undermined previous negotiations with his demands, is raising his negotiating stakes.

Under the leadership of Yahya Sinwar, the new Hamas leadership is carefully examining the content and motivations behind the invitation to negotiate. While the resistance remains committed to pursuing a peaceful agreement, it is diligently assessing the context and underlying intentions of the invitation, seeking further clarifications before proceeding.

Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigades have pledged allegiance to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as announced by their spokesman Abu Ubaida. This comes as the resistance intensifies its operations in Gaza and northern occupied Palestine.