2023-11-28 23:04:00
Ghazi Hamad, member of the Hamas Political Office, during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, October 30, 2023 (REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani)
While the directors of the CIA and Mossad are in Qatar, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas declared itself willing to negotiate more agreements for the release of hostages and the extension of the truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, according to a senior CIA official. this armed movement in communication with the Qatari network Al Jazeera.
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Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the terrorist group is “striving to prolong the truce” and is in contact with mediators from Egypt and Qatar to reach “a global or partial agreement.”
“We are striving to extend the truce to stop the aggression once and for all, using the cards we have,” Hamad declared, warning that “so far” there are no negotiations to release Israeli soldiers in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
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“We are prepared and willing to reach a global or partial agreement. “The comprehensive deal concerns military (captives) in exchange for the release of all Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, or it may be a partial (deal) related to civilians, and this will be subject to negotiations,” Hamad said. . And he added: “If Israel is serious regarding securing the release of its captured soldiers, we are willing to reach a global agreement.”
A Hamas hostage was handed over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange agreement amid a temporary truce, in an unknown location in the Gaza Strip on November 28, 2023 (REUTERS )
Despite mutual accusations of violations of the ceasefire, the truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was maintained this Tuesday for the fifth consecutive day, in which the Palestinian militias released 12 hostages in the Strip and the Israeli authorities released 30 Palestinian prisoners .
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Ten Israeli hostages – all women – and two Thais were released this followingnoon and transferred to Israel via Egypt, which was followed by the release of 15 Palestinian women and 15 minors from Israeli prisons, as part of the exchange of captives for prisoners, an element key to the temporary ceasefire agreement that started on Friday and that extends for now until Wednesday.
Since Friday, Hamas freed 60 Israeli hostages and Israel released 180 Palestinian prisoners. They are all women and children or adolescents on both sides, and Palestinian militias also freed 21 foreign captives in the Strip, including two Thais.
As has been customary since this agreement began to be implemented on Friday, the Gaza hostages left through the Rafah crossing with Egypt and then entered Israeli territory, while the Palestinians were transferred from various Israeli jails to the prison of Ofer and the Jerusalem detention center, and from there they were released to the West Bank or the Holy City.
Protesters hold banners as they call for the immediate release of the hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, this November 28, 2023 (REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha)
All of this occurs while Qatar, Egypt and the United States mediate between Hamas and Israel for a possible extension of the truce period, which according to what has been agreed so far should end tomorrow, Wednesday.
Just today, the director of the CIA, William Burns, the director of the Israeli Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of Egyptian Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, met in Qatar to explore the options of achieving a permanent ceasefire, he told EFE. a source of security.
Israel was positive regarding the proposals and insisted that a possible extension of the truce include the handover of captive Israeli soldiers, since the agreement in force until now only involves the release of civilian women and children, the aforementioned source added.
Qatar, the main mediator between Hamas and Israel, pledged to continue looking for ways to extend the ceasefire.
Israeli soldiers look at photos of people who were killed or kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen at the Nova festival site in Re’im, southern Israel, November 28, 2023 (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
Despite a possible additional extension of the ceasefire, Israel has insisted that once more hostages are freed, it will attack Gaza once more with its goal of eradicating Hamas.
“The Israeli Army is prepared to continue fighting, and we take advantage of the days of pause to learn” and “approve future operational plans,” Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said today, saying that “the dismantling of Hamas will continue, another warning that its military operation on Gaza “will continue.”
(With information from EFE)
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