Israel and Hamas They accused each other of obstructing the negotiations that resumed this Saturday in Cairo with international mediation to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip, after almost seven months of war. Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States sat down with the Islamist movement’s delegation to hear their response to the latest truce proposal, submitted at the end of April.
This offer includes a 40-day cessation of fighting and an exchange of Israeli hostages held in Loop since October 7 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
A Hamas leader reiterated late Saturday that the Palestinian Islamist movement will not accept “under any circumstances” an agreement that does not explicitly include an end to the war.
He had previously indicated that the negotiations did not allow for “any evolution” at the moment. “Today’s negotiations are over and there will be a new round tomorrow,” he added.
An Israeli leader had recently considered Hamas’s position as an obstacle to any agreement. “Until now, Hamas “has not abandoned its demand to end the war, thus obstructing the possibility of reaching an agreement,” he told the AFP the senior Israeli official, on condition of anonymity.
The official denied reports that Israel had agreed to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Israeli bombings continued in Gaza, especially in Rafah, a city at the southern end of the Strip where around 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded together.
Threat of attack against Rafah
Israel, which is not present at the Cairo negotiations, will only send a delegation if progress is made in the “framework” of the hostage exchange, declared an Israeli representative in Jerusalem, adding that he expected “difficult negotiations.” According to the Axios portal, the head of the CIA, William Burnsis located in the Egyptian capital.
Israel, which, like the United States and the European Union, classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, opposes the definitive ceasefire and insists on launching a ground offensive against Rafah, considering it the last bastion of the Islamist commandos.
“We will do whatever is necessary to win and defeat our enemy, also in Rafah,” the Israeli prime minister reiterated this week. Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Hamas leader who reiterated the demand for a permanent ceasefire stated that Netanyahu “hinders” negotiation efforts due to “personal interests.”
Israel’s “obstinacy” may “compromise the negotiations and Netanyahu will bear the responsibility,” he added, warning that “the occupier will pay a high price” in an offensive against Rafah.
United Statess opposes an invasion of that Palestinian territory, especially if the Hebrew State does not protect civilians.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that this offensive in Rafah could lead to “a bloodbath.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cites Egyptian sources, Israel will give a week of margin to negotiations before launching the offensive against Rafah.
Netanyahu also faces strong internal pressure: thousands of Israelis demonstrated again on Saturday in Tel Aviv to demand an agreement on the hostages.
“A real famine”
A ground operation in Rafah It can also compromise the humanitarian aid that enters the Strip, mostly through this city on the border with Egypt, and which is already insufficient for the 2.4 million Gazans.
“The famine is there, a real famine in the north and it is moving towards the south,” warned the director of the World Food Program (WFP), Cindy McCainin an excerpt from an interview that the American network NBC will broadcast in its entirety on Sunday.
The war broke out on October 7 after the incursion of Islamist commandos that killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on Israeli data.
Israeli authorities estimate that after a hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners in November, 129 people remained captive in Loop and that 35 died.
The offensive launched by Israel in response to the attack has so far left 34,654 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health.
The conflict also increased tensions in West Bank occupied, where the Israeli army claimed to have killed five Palestinian “terrorists” on Saturday near Tulkarem (north) after twelve hours of siege of that population.
The Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigadesthe armed wing of Hamas, later confirmed the death of three fighters in that area, including their local leader, Alaa Adeeb.
Source: Gestion
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