Egyptian intelligence quietly changed the terms of a ceasefire proposal that Israel had already signed off on earlier this month, ultimately scuttling a deal that could have released Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and set a pathway to temporarily end the fighting in Gaza, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
The ceasefire agreement that Hamas ended up announcing on May 6 was not what the Qataris or the Americans believed had been submitted to Hamas for a potential final review, the sources said.
The changes made by Egyptian intelligence, the details of which have not been previously reported, led to a wave of anger and recrimination among officials from the US, Qatar and Israel, and left ceasefire talks at an impasse.
It’s possible there was some bribe money in it for Ahmed Abdel Khalek. Lots of money to be made by providing weapons for continuing conflict, easy to bribe a secondary official to make sure any agreements were derailed.
I forgot about personal greed! Very much a possibility.
Oh wow. Wherever you’re living must be nice.