They have been made progress on the agreement for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and a turning point could arrive in the next 48-72 hours. An Israeli political source reported this to the ABC broadcaster, specifying that the Israeli war cabinet will meet to discuss the details of the agreement.
Head of the Israeli 007 in Egypt for negotiations
The director of the Israeli Shin Bet internal security service, Ronen Bar, has meanwhile visited Egypt to discuss the release agreement. Joe Biden’s advisor, Brett McGurk, is traveling to Israel and is involved in the negotiations. The agreement would then need to be approved by the government, writes Haaretz.
But the war, war cabinet member Benny Gantz warns, will continue in any case “until our objectives are achieved.”
“Even if a ceasefire was needed for the return of the hostages – he explained yesterday -, the war would not stop”. Gantz, reports the Times of Israel, expressed himself thus during a visit to military leaders in northern Israel and assured that the country is doing “everything possible at a political and military level to safely bring home” the hostages, approximately 240 held in the Gaza Strip since the terrible October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel. “We are doing everything possible to bring everyone home – he remarked – by any means”.
What are the main obstacles to the agreement
However, various factors are currently hindering the agreement between Hamas and Israel. CNN highlights this, specifying that one of the complications in the ongoing talks is the verification of the list of names of the Palestinian hostages and prisoners that Hamas and Israel should release as part of the agreement. According to two officials quoted by the American broadcaster, Israel wants to ensure that none of the released prisoners have links to Hamas and for this reason every name proposed is carefully examined.
Another factor that is slowing down the talks is the lack of information on the hostages held by Hamas. Since other groups in Gaza, such as Islamic Jihad, are believed to have hostages in their possession, it is unclear to negotiators who Hamas might release as part of a deal.
Negotiations have also been hampered by ongoing fighting and logistical problems, including communications blackouts in Gaza that have prevented Hamas leaders in the Strip from speaking with political leaders in Qatar. Complicated indirect diplomacy, involving mediators in Doha, has also meant that it can sometimes take hours and even days for messages to be exchanged between all parties.
Hamas-Israel tug-of-war
Meanwhile, yesterday the tug of war between Hamas and Israel over the release continued. If US President Joe Biden says he is convinced that “there could be” the release of the prisoners, the Ezzeldín al Qassam Brigades have once again accused Tel Aviv of blocking the exchange, which includes the release of 50-70 women and children kidnapped during the attacks on October 7. According to spokesman Abu Obeida, Qatar is mediating to reach an agreement that would allow the release of “200 Palestinian children and 75 Palestinian women” detained, but there has been a postponement by the Israeli authorities.
Furthermore, the method with which the negotiations are taking place could push Islamic Jihad to stay out of any agreements, announced the general secretary of the Palestinian Islamist formation, Ziad Nachala, quoted by al-Arabiya. Nachala explained that the organization may not accept being involved in a possible agreement between Israel and Hamas, deciding to wait for “better conditions”. Islamic Jihad had previously announced that it was holding 34 people hostage.
The families’ appeal to Netanyahu and the government
An appeal to immediately accept the agreement with Hamas was launched yesterday evening by representatives of the families of the hostages to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
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