Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza were momentarily suspended in Doha on Friday, with plans being made of reconvening the following week by the negotiators. The goal is to make an agreement that will stop the war between Israelis and Hamas and ensure the release of remaining captives. American President Joe Biden admitted to the fact that, even though progress has been made, there hasn’t been a resolution yet.
A joint statement by the United States, Qatar and Egypt indicated that Washington had come up with a new proposal which took into account areas of agreement from last week’s discussions narrowing down differences in ways which could expedite implementation of a deal. The mediators have committed themselves to continuing working with this proposal.
“The path is now set for that outcome, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza and de-escalating regional tensions,” they said in the statement.
Israel and mediators started their most recent round of talks on Thursday aiming to bring about an end to the Israeli war against Gaza where more than 50 Palestinian lives have been claimed over several months. However, although Hamas (the Palestinian militant group) was not directly involved in these negotiations it was kept informed about them.
Citing information given by mediators, Izzat al-Rishq who is a senior Hamas official told Reuters: “Israel did not abide by what was agreed upon” during previous meetings.
Meanwhile Biden expressed hopefulness towards reaching an agreement saying that “we are much closer” than before starting these talks. The most productive negotiations conducted throughout several months have just ended according to a senior official who reveals that negotiators will meet again next week in Cairo hoping to conclude an agreement
“It has been consensus among all parties within 48 hours which really shows there’s a new spirit here driving toward resolution,” said an anonymous US official while speaking on conditions of anonymity.
“The Israeli team that was here was empowered…We made progress on many of the issues that we have been working on,” the person added.
Biden also stated that he has directed his team of negotiators to present a comprehensive bridging proposal that was made on Friday as he believes it will lay the groundwork for a final ceasefire agreement and hostage release deal.
He said that having spoken with Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who were both strongly supportive of the US proposal, technical teams will continue working in the field while senior officials will meet in Cairo “before the end of the week.”
To reassert US support for Israel and deter any actors from undermining this process in view of an imminent comprehensive cease-fire and hostage release deal, Biden is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel.
Biden on Friday night was cautiously optimistic about a ceasefire but warned that “it is not over yet.” When would a ceasefire start if an agreement is reached? “I do not know,” Biden replied.
Israel has said peace could only be possible if Hamas were removed, whereas Hamas has insisted it would agree only to permanent truce and not temporary halt. Other sticking points have included the sequence of the deal, which Palestinian prisoners should be released together with Israeli captives; who should control the border between Gaza and Egypt, and freedom of movement for Palestinians in Gaza.
According to an Israeli official earlier today, its delegation in Doha was returning home, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet with Blinken on Monday.
On Friday, Israeli forces bombarded targets across the small, densely populated Gaza Strip and issued new orders for people to evacuate areas that it had previously designated as civilian safe zones claiming that these places had been used by Hamas to fire mortars and rockets into Israel.
As hundreds of families fled with their salvaged belongings. The United Nations called for a week-long pause in fighting to allow for a polio vaccination campaign; since the disease had broken out among the displaced. The statement from Palestine’s Ministry of Health confirmed that there had been one case of polio reported in the strip.
Israeli tallies claimed 1,200 people dead and around 250 hostages after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th thus sparking off this latest wave of violence in the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign resulted in over 60,000 Palestinians dying (mostly civilians) according to data provided by Palestinian health authorities. This has also led to near-total displacement of all inhabitants (which number more than 2 million), starvation catastrophe as well as genocide charges at Hague World Court by international community which Israel dismisses. According to Israel ,17,000 Hamas fighters were killed while contending that they use human shields among civilians.
