Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director of the International Communities Organisation, who has negotiated with Hamas for 17 years, has told Al Jazeera that being “realistic, there are no ceasefire negotiations going on at the present time”. “Hamas announced its acceptance of a temporary cease-fire for 60 days … but the Israelis haven’t given their answer yet, and in fact, Netanyahu has said that the only deal he’ll accept now is a complete and total deal for the return of all 50 of the Israeli hostages”, he said, adding that the armed group should also push for a comprehensive deal.
