The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed on Friday morning because the opponents could not find common ground for further exchanges of hostages and prisoners, according to Israeli and Hamas officials.
Israel and Hamas publicly blamed each other for military activities that violated the week-long ceasefire. Israel said Hamas fired rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, while Hamas said Israeli troop operations in northern Gaza had resumed. But two Israeli officials and Zaher Jabareen, a Hamas official in charge of prisoner issues, said the real reason for the break’s end was a stalemate in negotiations over the exchange of prisoners and hostages.
Israel signaled on Saturday that it was ending its involvement in the talks for the time being. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said David Barnea, the head of the Mossad spy agency negotiating for the Israeli government, had ordered his team to return to Israel from talks in Qatar.
Mr. Netanyahu had hoped for at least one more round of exchanges, said the Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Hamas had begun proposing deals that would see the release of more Palestinians from Israeli prisons, including high-profile prisoners, in exchange for the remaining hostages held in Gaza, including Israeli soldiers. But Israeli officials have made clear they want the release of all women and children held in Gaza before discussing exchanging other prisoners.
The return to war after seven days of a temporary ceasefire left the fate of dozens of hostages in doubt.
Israeli authorities say Hamas and other militants are believed to have kidnapped more than 200 people in an attack on October 7 that left about 1,200 dead. Over the course of a week, 81 Israelis and dual nationals, as well as 24 foreigners captured in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, and 240 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons. The release of the foreigners took place as part of negotiations independent of the ceasefire agreement.
The overnight negotiations for a further extension of the ceasefire, led by Qatar and supported by Egypt and the United States, included discussions on at least one proposal to follow the formula used last week, in addition to increasing aid deliveries to Gaza.
The sides explained differently why no agreement was reached.
Mr. Jabareen said in a telephone interview that Hamas has said it considers some of the women on Israel’s proposed list of hostages to be released to be soldiers.
Mr. Jabareen said Hamas had made three other proposals, all involving small numbers of Israelis in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners. Previous talks during the seven-day ceasefire generally called for the release of three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage released.
One proposal was for Hamas to allegedly trade the bodies of the Bibas family’s mother and two children for a few dozen Palestinians detained by Israel since 2014, Mr. Jabareen said.
Hamas announced this week that the three – Shiri Bibas, 32; Ariel Bibas, 4; and Kfir Bibas, 10 months old – were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. The Israeli military said it was trying to verify the information.
Hamas also proposed swapping the family’s father, Yarden Bibas, who the group says is still alive, for several dozen of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including some held since the 1980s, Mr. Jabareen said.
Another proposal from Hamas would have required both sides to release all prisoners over the age of 60 and another 130 or so Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were held after Hamas’ surprise attacks on Israel on October 7.
Israel rejected all of these proposals, Mr. Jabareen said.
“It is clear that we are heading towards a continuation of aggression and that there is no horizon for the continuation of ceasefires and prisoner exchanges,” he said.
A person familiar with the negotiations said Hamas’s final offer included the bodies of the three Bibases, Mr. Bibas and six other women, children and the elderly. Israel rejected that offer because it first wanted to secure the release of all living women and children, the person said.
One of the Israeli officials said disagreements over the definition of civilians and soldiers contributed to the standoff. Hamas considered Israeli women of military age or captured near military bases as military prisoners, as well as men in their late 40s or 50s, because they could serve in the reserves, the official said.
Israeli authorities said Friday evening that the collapse of the ceasefire had also temporarily halted the flow of critical aid supplies to Gaza; Deliveries resumed at the insistence of the United States, although at a lower level than during the ceasefire. The shipments did not contain fuel, only food, water and medical equipment. The deliveries were checked before they were imported into the Gaza Strip, it said.
The collapse of the ceasefire talks came as competing pressures on Mr. Netanyahu increased. International calls are growing louder for an end to the war, which the United Nations says has displaced 80 percent of Gaza’s roughly 2.2 million residents and killed more than 13,000 people, according to the territory’s health authorities. Many in Israel have also called on the government to do everything it can to bring the remaining prisoners home.
Mr. Netanyahu also faces pressure from far-right members of his own government to continue the fight against Hamas, which Israel has vowed to destroy.
Aaron Boxerman reported from Jerusalem and Erica L. Green from Washington.
A correction has been made
December 1, 2023
:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported the number of Palestinians released from prison so far. There were 240, not 180.
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– Ben Hubbard and Sheera Frenkel report from Istanbul and Tel Aviv