JERUSALEM—Israel is seeking a "robust" and complete disarmament of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in order to ensure that there is no resumption in hostilities, according to a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official who briefed the Washington Free Beacon on upcoming Egyptian-brokered ceasefire talks between the terror group and Israeli government.
However, Hamas is already making untenable demands on the Jewish state that will not be met under any circumstances, according to the senior Israeli official, who agreed to discuss the nascent talks on condition of anonymity.
The official spoke to a group of pastors in Israel on a trip organized by Christians United for Israel to show solidarity with the Israeli people.
"Hamas have come [to the table] with some very unreasonable demands that will not be met," the official said, explaining that the terror group is demanding that Israel lift all border restrictions and allow unfettered access to the Gaza Strip. The fear is that once this demand is met, Hamas and its allies in Iran will begin to rearm and bring in more sophisticated weaponry to attack Israel.
A lifting of the blockade "is not going to happen, obviously, because there's a reason for these restrictions," the official said, noting that the current conflict began due to Hamas' ability to rearm itself with sophisticated rockets capable of reaching deep into Israel. "It's an absurd idea."
As a tenuous 72-hour-ceasefire agreement continues to hold, Israel has completed withdrawing most of its forces from Gaza, though resumption of its military campaign is not out of the question, the official said. Reserve troops have returned home in recent days as the diplomatic process gets underway.
Israeli officials arrived in Egypt on Tuesday and initial talks were expected to begin Wednesday.
Israel will push for the international community, including the United States, to help carry out a complete disarming of Hamas, the official said.
"Our chief demand is the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip," the official said, explaining that this demand is neither new nor controversial.
"We can allow those restrictions [on Gaza] to be relaxed insofar as we are certain no new arms are brought in," the official said.
The Israeli military, the Egyptians, and a coalition of international partners would be responsible for ensuring Hamas is disarmed and that illicit materials—many of which are provided by the Iranians and other state financiers of terrorism—are not flowing across the border.
Hamas' allies in Qatar and Turkey are also angling to join the ceasefire talks, a prospect that the Israeli official expressed pessimism about.
"It's in Hamas' best interests to bring them in, especially Qatar," which is the terror group’s main financial backer. Hamas wants "their partners and allies at the table."
Both Qatar and Turkey have "played a very negative role" in recent weeks as the conflict unfolded, "especially Turkey with its rhetoric," which has been outwardly anti-Semitic, the official said. "We have less interest in their involvement but we're not the only players here."
Asked about U.S. involvement in the upcoming talks, the Israeli official welcomed D.C.'s participation, but cautioned: "At the end of the day, this is a regional problem and it needs a regional solution. We're happy for the Americans and Europeans to play a role, and they can play a constructive role especially where nations like Qatar are involved."
Secretary of State John Kerry caused a diplomatic uproar in Israel several weeks ago when he attempted to broker a ceasefire agreement with Qatar's help. Israel was reported to have flatly rejected the deal and criticized it for emphasizing Hamas' extreme demands.
"The U.S. can play a strong and influential role and we hope that role will be put to good use towards demilitarization of the Gaza Strip," the official said.
The official admitted that there have been disagreements with the White House since hostilities broke out nearly a month ago.
"On the vast majority of issues on the strategic level we agree. But there are tactical issues on which we have a disagreement," the Israeli official admitted, pointing to instances in which the Obama administration attempted to force on Israel a ceasefire agreement "before we had done what was necessary."
"There was a misunderstanding on that issue," the official said.