Gaza talks begin today in Qatar, Hamas participation unclear

Qatar on Thursday Gaza I am going to host negotiations for a cease-fire, aimed at reaching an agreement that has not been possible until now and America It is hoped that the deal will stop Iran from attacking Israel and avoid a major war.

According to the French news agency (AFP), mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt Israel And agitation has invited talks aimed at ending the fighting, which Gaza’s health ministry says has killed nearly 40,000 people.

Sources close to Hamas and the talks said on Wednesday that the talks will take place in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

According to American sources familiar with the Doha meeting, CIA director William Burns will also attend the meeting.

Israel has confirmed that it will attend the meeting, but it is unclear whether Hamas plans to attend.

Until now, a ceasefire in Gaza lasted only one week in November 2023, with mediation efforts repeatedly stalling since then. At that time, Hamas released dozens of Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

A Hamas official said it was ‘continuing its consultations with mediators’, as it called for the implementation of the proposal that US President Joe Biden presented on May 31, rather than further negotiations.

Joe Biden said at the time that the phased plan would begin with an initial six-week “full ceasefire,” the release of some Israeli prisoners from Gaza and an “increase” in humanitarian aid to the besieged area while the warring parties “permanently cease fighting.” Will discuss.

U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blanken told several Middle East counterparts in recent days that “this cease-fire agreement is extremely important, and we must do everything possible for it.” and that tension is not in anyone’s interest.

The latest attempt at mediation comes at a time when regional tensions have escalated since Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas and a cease-fire negotiator, was assassinated in Tehran on July 31.

The killing has been blamed by Iran and its allies on Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for the attack. Tehran and its backed groups in the region have vowed to retaliate, raising fears of a wider conflict in Gaza more than 10 months after Israel and Hamas fought.

‘No One Knows’

Western leaders have urged Tehran to refrain from attacking Israel over the killing of Ismail Haniyeh. The incident occurred hours after a senior commander of Hamas’ ally Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut.

Asked if a cease-fire agreement in Gaza could prevent a possible Iranian attack on Israel, Biden said: ‘I hope so.’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani has said, referring to Israel, that Tehran rejects the demand of Western countries not to take any harsh action against the government, which has violated its sovereignty. .’

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Last week, Iran’s mission to the United Nations expressed hope that the retaliation would not “undermine a possible ceasefire in Gaza.”

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told AFP that the head of the Mossad intelligence agency and the Shin Bet intelligence agency would attend the Doha talks.

Earlier, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that “Qatar is working to ensure that Hamas is also represented.”

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had a telephone conversation with Antony Blanken on Wednesday and discussed “joint mediation efforts to end the conflict” and the “need for de-escalation”. What did you think?

According to the statement released by the US Department of State, the two leaders said that ‘no party in the region should take such steps that would harm the efforts to reach an agreement.’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on social media platform X that the country was on ‘high alert’ due to ‘hateful threats from the Iranian regime and its terrorist operatives’.

‘We are all suffering’

According to the news agency AFP, according to Israeli official data, 1198 people were killed and 251 people were taken prisoner, of which 111 are still in Gaza, as a result of the extraordinary attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. There are prisoners, 39 of whom the Israeli army says have been killed.

According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, about 40 thousand people have lost their lives due to the aggression of the Israeli army.

The Israeli military says it has carried out dozens of airstrikes in the past 24 hours, and Palestinian civil defense aid workers have reported artillery shelling and airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

In Lebanon, the health ministry said two people were killed in separate Israeli strikes, the latest in cross-border violence during the Gaza conflict. Hezbollah says two of its fighters have been killed.

The Israeli military says its air force has targeted Hezbollah military structures.

Several governments have issued advisories against travel to Lebanon and prepared emergency plans to evacuate their citizens from the region in the event of war.

The US has also deployed an aircraft carrier warship and a guided missile submarine to the region in support of Israel.

Diplomatic sources say French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourn will visit Beirut on Thursday as part of efforts to ease tensions.

“We hope for an end to the fighting,” Palestinian citizen Ibrahim Makhamer told AFP in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

Ibrahim Makhamar condemned the “starvation policy” and lack of medical supplies in an area where most of the 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by Israeli aggression, saying, “We are all suffering.” are victims.’


#Gaza #talks #today #Qatar #Hamas #participation #unclear
2024-08-15 21:47:44

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