Hamas unhappy with ceasefire proposal because it favors Israel's right to exist

Hamas is spitting mad, and they’re not shy about it. A source tight with the group told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas sees the latest ceasefire and hostage deal from US envoy Steve Witkoff as a blatant pro-Israel tilt, more lopsided than anything they’ve seen before. “Screwed over” is how they feel, with one insider griping to the Post that the US is peddling a proposal that doesn’t even pretend to guarantee an end to the war. 

No wonder they’re not buying Witkoff’s pitch at face value, Hamas is demanding tweaks, and they’re not whispering it.

The deal’s got some meat: 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 would be freed, with 125 Palestinian lifers and 1,111 post-October 7 prisoners walking out of Israeli jails, according to Saudi outlet Al-Hadath. Gaza would also get a beefed-up aid flow. But here’s the problem: Hamas has to cough up all hostages in a week, leaving them with zero leverage. Personally, they should be made to release all the hostages immediately, but that isn't going to happen.

A source close to Hamas told Walla that Witkoff rolled over for most of Ron Dermer’s demands in a Tuesday sit-down, making the deal smell like an Israeli wish list.

Worse, there’s no ironclad US promise that the 60-day ceasefire will stick or morph into something permanent, which is always had done historically. Hamas has even promised to attack Israel again and again, until it's destroyed [and therefore all the Jews would be killed. And they try to say that it's Israel, not Hamas, who's employing genocide].

The source fumed to Walla: no clause says the truce holds if talks drag past 60 days, and Israel could pull a March rerun, breaking it unilaterally.

Hamas’ leadership isn’t playing coy. “The Hamas Movement’s leadership has received the new Witkoff proposal from the mediators and is reviewing it responsibly to serve the interests of our people, provide them relief, and achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” they said in a statement. 

But Basem Naim, a Hamas political bureau heavy, wasn’t so diplomatic. “The agreement that Israel agreed to does not meet our demands,” he told Reuters, adding that they’re “responsibly considering” their next move. Translation: they’re not signing this anytime soon.

Now, Al-Hadath’s report is stirring the pot, claiming Hamas is on the verge of agreeing to the 60-day ceasefire for those hostages. That’s in direct conflict with what sources are telling the Post and Walla. A senior Israeli official threw more shade, saying, “Contrary to reports, the Witkoff agreement proposed in recent days did not determine the new deployment line of the IDF, nor the manner in which aid would be distributed within the framework of a ceasefire.” So, what’s the real deal? Nobody’s saying.

The proposal itself? It’s got two rounds of hostage releases—10 living, 18 dead—plus that 60-day truce, extendable if both sides play nice. The IDF would pull back from parts of Gaza, and the UN would step in to handle aid distribution, a source told the Post. Sounds tidy, but Hamas isn’t biting. They’re digging in, convinced Witkoff’s deal is a trap dressed up as a lifeline.

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IAF strikes Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus

The Israeli Air Force dropped hell on a Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus Thursday, turning a quiet corner of the Dummar Project into a smoking crater. Senior jihadis—guys allegedly sketching out attacks on Israeli troops up along the northern border—were in the crosshairs, according to the suits in Jerusalem and whispers from Syrian street sources. 

This wasn’t a polite knock on the door; it was a message delivered in fire and steel.

A Syrian security guy, probably sweating through his knockoff Ray-Bans, told Reuters the bulls-eye was some “Palestinian figure.” Al-Hadath, the Saudi-backed news outfit, doubled down, saying a big-shot Palestinian official got the express ticket to paradise. 

Pictures from the scene? Think apocalyptic postcard—rubble, twisted metal, and smoke thick enough to choke a camel. Syrian press pegged the body count at eight but clammed up on the details. No names, no tears—just numbers. Jannah, here they come--get the goats ready.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz didn’t blink. “We ain’t letting these terror clowns set up shop in Syria,” he said, or something close enough. 

The IDF backed him up with their official line: “A short while ago, the IAF conducted an intelligence-based strike on a terrorist command center belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in Damascus. The command center was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the State of Israel.”

They didn’t stop there. “The IDF will not allow terrorist organizations to entrench themselves in Syrian territory and operate against the State of Israel, and will respond forcefully to any such entrenchment,” the statement growled. “The IDF will continue to act against Palestinian terrorist organizations wherever necessary and will continue to operate to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.” 

Translation? Mess with the bull, get the horns—anywhere, anytime.

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This isn't a one-off. Ever since Bashar Assad’s house of cards folded in December, Israel’s been playing whack-a-mole with Syria’s new jihadi overlords and their pals. Under President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s shiny new jihadist regime, Palestinian terror crews have been sniffing around for a foothold. Israel’s response? Bombs, not brunch invites. Thursday’s strike was just the latest chapter in a book that’s all blood, no happy endings.

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