Israeli tanks cut off the Gaza crossing with Egypt and totally isolated the Palestinian territory, before the resumption of indirect negotiations in Cairo that constitute, according to Hamas, the “last chance” for the release of the hostages in their hands for seven months.
The negotiations resumed with discussions between a Hamas delegation and representatives of Egypt, Qatar and the United States, the three mediating countries, an Egyptian media linked to the intelligence services reported in the evening.
The Islamist movement, which has governed Gaza since 2007, gave the green light the day before to a truce proposal presented by Qatar and Egypt.
Israel indicated that this proposal “was far away” of their demands and decided to continue “the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas”said the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement.
The Israeli army released images showing tanks with the Israeli flag taking the “operational control” on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.
He specified that it was an operation with a “very limited scope against very specific targets”, at a time when the international community urges Israel to give up its plan to invade Rafah, where 1.4 million people are crowded, most of them displaced by the war.
Rafah It is also the main gateway for humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, on the brink of famine. The United Nations denounced that Israel blocked both the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing, further east, and asked them to “reopened immediately”.
“I urge the Israeli government to stop any escalation and engage constructively in diplomatic negotiations”, insisted the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
“Last chance” for the hostages
Netanyahu’s office noted that Israel also sent a delegation to Cairo and urged the entourage to “stand firm on the conditions necessary for release” of the hostages.
A senior position of Hamaswho requested anonymity, told AFP that these negotiations represent “the last chance for Netanyahu and for the families“of the hostages”to see his children return”.
The conflict began on October 7 with a raid by Islamist commandos that killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 in southern Israel, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.
Israel estimates that, following a hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners in November, 128 people remained captive in Gaza and that 35 of them died.
The retaliatory offensive launched by Israel has so far left 34,789 dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government in the Palestinian territory.
“Closing the differences”
The United States stated that it hoped Israel and Hamas could “close the differences”. “We will do everything we can to support this process”said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
A senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Jalil al Hayya, told Al Jazeera that the current truce proposal contemplated three phases, each lasting 42 days.
The proposal would include a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced people and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, with the goal of a “permanent ceasefire”.
Until now, Israel has opposed a complete withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire, considering it essential to invade Rafah to eliminate what it considers the last battalions of Hamas, classified as an organization “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel is willing to “make concessions” to free the hostages, but without progress on that matter, “The operation will be intensified throughout the Strip” from Gaza.
Hamas’s armed wing claimed to have fired rockets at Israeli troops in Kerem Shalom, two days after four Israeli soldiers were killed there in an attack it also claimed responsibility for. The Israeli army claimed that the attack was launched from Rafah.
“They stole our joy”
After Hamas accepted the truce proposal, the streets of Rafah were filled with shouts of joy.
Abu Aoun al Najjar described to AFP his “indescribable joy” at that time, although subsequent Israeli attacks and bombings “they stole the joy”.
The nighttime bombings left at least 27 dead, according to two local hospitals.
The Israeli army on Monday urged the evacuation of tens of thousands of families from the east of the city, ahead of a major ground offensive.
In pamphlets released in the area, the army asked residents to go “to the humanitarian zone (enabled) in Al Mawasi”, a town located on the coast about ten kilometers from Rafah.
After Hamas’ announcement, an association of relatives of the Israeli hostages also demonstrated in Tel Aviv and demanded that the parties involved “transform this opportunity into an agreement”.
Source: Gestion
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