Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on the ceasefire continue uphill. UN Secretary Guterres addressed the two actors in the war in the Middle East asking for a truce to be reached quickly. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv announces the death of a hostage kidnapped on October 7 and the pro-Palestine student protest reaches Canada.
While they continue uphill the negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreementthe Secretary General of the United Nations, Anthony Guterreshe once again turned to the two main players of the war in the Middle East asking for a truce to be reached as quickly as possible to avoid exacerbating the consequences of the conflict.
“For the good of the people of Gaza, the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the sake of the region and the world, I implore the Israeli government and the leaders of Hamas to reach an agreement. Without it, I fear war with all its consequences it will get exponentially worse“, the secretary said from the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, where he met the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric.
Guterres also warned about the impact of a military attack would have on Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge. An attack which, as already announced by Hamas, would lead to the immediate interruption of negotiations.
Gaza, Hamas responds to the proposed truce and hostages agreement with Israel: “A trap”
“A military attack on Rafah would mean aescalation which would kill thousands of civilians and force hundreds of thousands to flee – the United Nations Secretary General further said – and would have a devastating impactand on the Palestinians of Gaza, as well as serious repercussions in the occupied West Bank and throughout the region.”
The demands of the head of Hamas in Gaza: “Unconditional end to the fighting”
According to the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12which cites anonymous sources from Hamas, the leader of the militants in Gaza, Yahya Sinwarwould have submitted some specific requests to mediators Egyptians in negotiations with Israel. Sinwar would ask for a guarantee of the end of the war and “a written commitment to the unconditional end to the fighting“.
Furthermore, the head of Hamas wants specific guarantees on materials who will not be allowed into Gaza for its reconstruction. Presumably, Israeli TV claims, this would help ensure that Hamas is able to rebuild its tunnels and other military infrastructure.
A Hamas delegation will soon be in Egypt for further discussions on the ceasefire, says the Palestinian group, which is studying the latest proposal for a truce in Gaza in exchange for Israeli hostages presented in recent days.
Israel announces the death of Dror Or, one of the hostages kidnapped on October 7
The Israeli government has confirmed the death of an Israeli held hostage in Gaza since the Hamas attack on 7 October. Dror Or49, was killed and his body has been held in Gaza since October 7, the kibbutz Well you were where he lived, one of the communities most affected by the Hamas attack.
His wife Yonat had been killed in the assault, while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13, were kidnapped and then released in November as part of a ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas. “We are heartbroken confirm Dror Or’s deathkidnapped by Hamas on October 7, murdered and whose body is still in Gaza,” the Israeli government reported on Xadding that “the two children and brother Yahli are now orphans.”
The government has given no explanation as to how it became aware of Or’s death, announced while the mediating countries Qatar, the United States and Egypt await the Hamas response to a new ceasefire proposal and release of hostages.
At the end of November, during a ceasefire lasted a week, 105 hostages were released, including 80 Israelis and people from other countries, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held by Israel. Israel estimates that 129 kidnapped prisoners remain in Gaza by militants during the attack on October 7th. The army says 35 of them have died, including Or.
US Defense Secretary: “No Hamas attack against American troops in Gaza”
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin He said he had “had no indication that Hamas is planning a… attack against American troops in Gaza”, but that adequate measures were nevertheless taken for the safety of military personnel.
“I don’t discuss intelligence information from a stage,” Austin said during a press conference, as reported by Reuters – but at the moment we have no indication in this sense. That said, this is a war zone as well many things can happen, and many things will happen“.
Within a few days the US military is expected to complete the construction of a pier to speed up the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza despite bad weather hampering the work, said White House national security spokesman John Kirby. The United States has asked both Israel and Hamas to ensure that the aid intended for this purpose arrives in Gaza to the civiliansafter a shipment from Jordan was attacked by Israeli settlers and subsequently hijacked by Palestinian militants.
Pro-Palestine protests also in Canadian universities
It also widens in Canada the front of protests by university students to ask for an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, they started in US universities. Canadian protests come as police make arrests hundreds of people on US campuses and the death toll in Gaza continues to rise.
Student protests are underway on the campuses of Montreal and Toronto, as well as those of British Columbia and Ottawa set up tents and campsmonitored by the police who have not yet intervened.
