2024-03-15 15:46:03
Mediation efforts are continuing aimed at reaching an immediate ceasefire in Gaza within the framework of an agreement to release the hostages held by Hamas since October 7, in light of the worsening humanitarian crisis that is pushing a quarter of the Strip’s population into famine.
In this context, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday that the United States is working with Israel alongside Qatar and Egypt, which are playing a mediating role, to fill the remaining gaps in an agreement regarding the hostages that would stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken said during his visit to Austria that Israel sending a delegation to Qatar reflects a “sense of possibility and necessity” of concluding an agreement to release the hostages.
Blinken added to reporters, “We are holding talks now (while) we are talking here, and I am sure that they will continue in the coming days.”
Blinken said that the United States needs to see a clear and implementable plan regarding Rafah that includes removing civilians from harm’s way, but he explained that his country has not yet seen such a plan.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Hamas’s latest proposal for a hostage agreement as unrealistic, but said that a delegation would go to Qatar to discuss Israel’s position on a possible agreement.
Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister approved plans for a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million people live.
He added that the army is preparing for matters related to the military operation and the evacuation of the civilian population.
On the other hand, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that Cairo seeks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, increase the entry of aid, and allow the displaced in the south and center of the Strip to move to the north.
Al-Sisi said in a recorded message during a visit to the police academy, “We are talking regarding reaching a ceasefire, a truce, that is, and achieving the largest amount of aid.”
He also warned of the dangers of Israel’s invasion of the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
Hamas proposal
Hamas presented to mediators and the United States a vision for a ceasefire in Gaza that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to the proposal seen by Reuters.
Hamas said that the first phase of the proposal includes “the release of Israeli women, children, the elderly, and the sick in exchange for the release of a number ranging from 700 to a thousand Palestinian prisoners, including 100 who are serving life sentences and high sentences,” according to the proposal, which also includes the release of “female recruits.” .
The proposal stipulates a first phase that includes a six-week truce and the release of 42 Israeli hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, according to a Hamas official who spoke to Agence France-Presse on Friday.
In return, “Israel releases 20 to 30 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli detainee, including prisoners with high sentences.” The movement demands the release of 30 to 50 Palestinian detainees in exchange for the release of every soldier detained in the Gaza Strip.
The source explained that among the hostages whom the movement proposes to release in the first stage are female soldiers.
The first phase also includes, according to the proposal, “military withdrawal from all cities and populated areas in the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced without restrictions, and the flow of aid at no less than 500 trucks per day.”
In the second stage, the movement releases all its detainees in exchange for “an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.”
Talia also calls for “full military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, ending the siege, and opening the crossings,” provided that “Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States, undertake to follow up and ensure the implementation of the agreement.”
Israel confirms that there are still 130 hostages in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to have been killed, out of regarding 250 kidnapped in the October 7 attack.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel vowed to eliminate the movement that controls the Gaza Strip, and began implementing an intense military campaign that left massive destruction and at least 31,490 dead, most of them civilians, according to the latest toll from the Hamas Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.
1710524563
#Bidens #comment #Schumers #statements #caused #anger #Israel
