Judging from reports of Hamas’ counteroffer to the U.N.–backed peace proposal, an end to the war in Gaza feels even more distant than it previously seemed—and it seemed pretty distant.
In a Slate column on Wednesday, I wrote that the main problem with the peace talks in Cairo and Doha, Qatar, which have been going on for months, is that Israel and Hamas have conflicting aims and interests in the war, motivations that no amount of diplomatic finessing can override.
This is still the fundamental issue, but since then, intermediaries to the talks have released Hamas’ counteroffer to the proposal on the table, and in no way can it be seen as serious. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, some of Hamas’ changes “are workable, some are not.” In any case, many “go beyond positions that [Hamas] had previously taken and accepted,” leading one to “question whether they’re proceeding in good faith or not.”
Blinken didn’t spell out the terms of Hamas’ offer, but they have since been leaked to several news organizations. According to those reports, Hamas........