AGI – The UN is not involved in the negotiations between Egypt and Israel on the ceasefire, but hopes that the “talks will be fruitful and that we will see a humanitarian ceasefire”. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this, commenting on the news regarding the trip of another Egyptian delegation to Israel. Time is running out: either an agreement on the truce is reached, without Hamas posing further obstacles, or the military operation on Rafah by the Israeli armed forces will begin. A circumstance, the latter, that the international community is trying to avoid, starting with the UN itself, convinced that the sanitation crisis in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, is destined to worsen with the expected increase in temperature in the next weeks. Today it was 40 degrees. “And we are only at the end of April – added Dujarric -. Our humanitarian colleagues remind us that more than a million people, including men, women and children, are refugees in the area”.
An Egyptian source, according to the Jerusalem Post, says that “there are currently no hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, nor is there a new Israeli offer in this regard.” “There is an attempt by Egypt to restart talks with an Egyptian proposal that would involve the release of 33 hostages: women, the elderly and the sick.” The Israeli newspaper, citing an official briefed on the meetings, reports that an Egyptian delegation met with Israeli officials, seeking a way to restart talks to end the war in Gaza and return the remaining Israeli hostages. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 hostages would be released, rather than the 40 previously discussed.
Israeli intelligence officials believe there are 33 women, elderly and sick hostages left alive in Gaza, out of a total of 133 still held by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. No decision has been made on how long the truce would last, but if such an exchange were agreed, the pause in fighting would “certainly be less than six weeks,” the official said. The visit of the Egyptian delegation followed reports in the Israeli media of a visit to Cairo on Thursday by the head of the Israeli army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, and Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service . Egypt, concerned about a potential influx of Palestinian refugees from neighboring Gaza if the war continues with Israel’s long-promised offensive in the southern city of Rafah, has taken an increasingly active role in the negotiations.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, speaking of the nineteen members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees accused by Israel of being linked to the Hamas militia, explained that fourteen remain under investigation, while in one case no evidence was found, and another four remain “suspended” pending new evidence. The suspects are divided into two groups: the first, made up of 12 people, concerns accusations launched in January by Israel, which had spoken of “clear evidence” of mixing between members of UNRWA and Hamas. The second, made up of nine, concerns allegations reported in March and April. Of the first group of 12, eight remain under investigation, while one has been closed. The remaining three remain suspended because “the information provided so far by Israel is not sufficient to start an investigation”. Regarding the second group of seven, one is suspended pending new evidence. The other six remain under investigation. The UN inspectors, added the spokesperson, went to Israel to discuss with the authorities and are planning a new trip in May.
