The agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza is hanging by a thread. An official of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas told theAfp that today’s talks in Cairo with the mediators – Egypt, Qatar, the United States – have produced “no development”. Today’s negotiations “are over and tomorrow there will be a new round”, concluded the source. Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to demand the release of the hostages held by Hamas since October 7 and to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. He brings it back Haaretz, underlining that the demonstrations come after news of the potential agreement with Hamas to reach a truce and obtain the release of prisoners. “Now there is an agreement on the table, which Hamas has made it clear that it will accept,” he said on behalf of the families of the hostages Einav Zangauker, whose son is detained in the Strip. But «Netanyahu is once again trying to torpedo the only chance we have of saving the hostages», he concluded. A source in the Hamas leadership told ad Al Jazeera that «Netanyahu is personally hindering the reaching of an agreement for personal reasons. The occupation is hindering the achievement of an agreement by insisting on the continuation of the war.”
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, himself spoke for the first time on the proposed agreement with Israel, stating that the offer is the closest to satisfying the group’s demands, even if he raised several reservations. The one who wrote it Wall Street Journal, citing Arab mediators as saying that “Hamas is expected to make a counter-proposal soon.” Meanwhile, the TV Al Hadathwhich cites sources and other media including Ynet And Ria Novosti, reports that the militia party has agreed to release 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel. «Hamas undertakes to release 33 Israeli hostages in the “first phase” of the agreement». This position differs, however, from the previous one. At the start of the negotiations, Hamas claimed to have 20 hostages, but “it seems they managed to find the remaining civilians,” the TV channel’s source said.
The negotiations
In the evening the news arrived that the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas could accept the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages in the next few hours. This was reported by the Saudi newspaper “Al Sharq”, while a delegation is now in Cairo, where intense talks are underway between Egypt and Qatar which will last “several days”, reports Egyptian television Sada al-Balad citing some sources. Hamas said it had received a promise from the United States of a ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the third and final phase of the agreement, and a promise that Israeli forces would not continue fighting after the release of the hostages.
If not, what happens?
Qatar is ready to accept the US request to expel the Hamas leadership, including Ismail Haniyeh, from Doha. This was reported by the Times of Israel, a source familiar with the dossier. According to the Washington Post (WP), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month delivered the request to be implemented in the event of rejection of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Blinken – according to the newspaper – delivered this message to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani last month. The WP also reported that Qatar had been waiting for the US request for months.
Blinken: «An Israeli attack on Rafah without a plan to protect civilians is beyond acceptable»
An Israeli attack on Rafah, the city in the southern Gaza Strip where more than a million Palestinians displaced by the war are crowded together, would cause damage.”beyond acceptable“. These are the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. According to Blinken, denying the Wall Street Journal, Tel Aviv has not presented any plan to protect civilians during this possible attack. “In the absence of such a plan, we cannot support a large-scale military operation in Rafah, because the damage it would cause would be beyond what is acceptable,” he said at the McCain Institute forum.
