2024-03-19 16:38:22
The Wall Street Journal spoke regarding aspects of what it described as the dilemma that hinders reaching a ceasefire between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, following indirect talks resumed between the two sides in the Qatari capital, Doha.
The newspaper indicated that some of the mediators participating in the ongoing talks in Doha expressed their belief that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not give the Israeli negotiating team a mandate authorizing them to conclude the deal, which may undermine the talks.
The report quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the director of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Agency (Mossad), David Barnea, who heads the negotiating team, met with his team in the mini-ministerial council before leaving for Doha, and did not obtain all the negotiating powers he requested.
But the official added that the team had a clear mandate that allowed them to effectively manage the negotiations, as he put it.
The same official said that the head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, would have a direct role in the negotiations, and he expected that the talks would take at least two weeks to reach a deal.
On the other hand, the newspaper quoted former Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin – who participated in previous prisoner exchange talks – as saying, “Israel knows as it enters these negotiations that it has lost. Any agreement it produces is a victory for Hamas, and the goal is to reduce this victory as much as possible.” .
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari announced – during a press conference on Tuesday – that indirect negotiations between the delegations of Hamas and Israel had resumed in Doha, and he expressed cautious optimism.
Al-Ansari explained that negotiations resumed in all their tracks, and that a meeting was held yesterday, Monday, to convey responses between the two parties.
He added that the Doha talks focus on ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and achieving a temporary ceasefire.
Al-Ansari stressed that any attack on Rafah (south of the Gaza Strip) would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe and would negatively affect reaching an agreement in the ongoing negotiations.
Indirect negotiations are being conducted between Hamas and Israel through Qatari and Egyptian mediation, with the participation of the United States, in light of the continuation of the Israeli war on Gaza since last October.
Yesterday, Monday, the Israeli delegation, consisting of officials from the Mossad, military intelligence, and the Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet), arrived in Doha following obtaining authorization from the Israeli War Council to discuss the details of the issues at the negotiating table.
A truce was previously held between the Hamas movement and Israel, with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation, which lasted for a week from November 24 until December 1, 2023, during which a ceasefire took place, prisoners were exchanged, and limited humanitarian aid was brought into Gaza.
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