Israel does not negotiate with Hamas in Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not send any delegation to the talks table today for the truce and the release of the hostages. While the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, remains in the sights of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the red light goes off along the path of dialogue.
Netanyahu considers the position of Hamas “delusional”, which would call for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israel, the reconstruction of Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners. On this basis, according to the prime minister's office, there can be no negotiation: “In Cairo, Israel has not received any new proposal from Hamas for the release of our hostages. The Prime Minister insists that Israel does not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas.”
“A change in Hamas's positions will allow progress in the negotiations,” reads the statement from Netanyahu's office, who, according to local media reports, refused to send a delegation to Cairo today, arguing that it makes no sense to proceed in this sense until Hamas renounces its demands regarding in particular the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
The negotiating stalemate is confirmed by the news according to which the director of the CIA, William Burns, his Mossad colleague David Barnea and the prime minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, have left Cairo, as reported to CNN by a diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations. The dialogue, in any case, is not totally interrupted although no further rounds between the 'heavyweights' are currently foreseen.
The Forum of families of the hostages, held captive in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack since October 7, reacted harshly to the news, saying the decision was “a death sentence” for the remaining hostages. “The families of the hostages welcomed with amazement the decision to boycott the negotiations in Cairo – the Forum of families of the hostages and missing persons said in a statement – It seems that some of the members of the cabinet decided to sacrifice the lives of the hostages without admitting it “.
In an increasingly complex mosaic, Egypt is trying to carry out the work of mediation while also working in perspective. According to the pan-Arab broadcaster al-Arabiya, “Cairo has informed Israel of the need for a truce during Ramadan”, the month of fasting in the Islamic world which will begin according to the lunar calendar on March 10: in theory, with this deadline, there there are 4 weeks to give a signal and find at least a partial point of agreement. Saudi TV also reported that “Egyptian officials informed their counterparts in Israel of the need to work to make the negotiations successful.”
In the same hours, a surprise visit to Israel by the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, who met with security and intelligence officials. The talks discussed security threats to the United States and Israel. Wray “underlined the importance of the work done by FBI personnel together with their Israeli colleagues to counter the threats posed by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran and to provide assistance to the American victims of the attack” on October 7.
Stop the dangerous escalation between Israel and Lebanon. The Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres asks this, on the day in which new victims were counted on the border between the two countries, after an attack by Hezbollah and the retaliation of the IDF, through his spokesperson. “The recent escalation is dangerous and must be stopped,” said Stephane Dujarric, who then cites a Unifil report on “a worrying change in firefights between the Israeli Armed Forces and armed groups in Lebanon”, with attacks also ” away from the Blue Line”, the border demarcated by the UN in 2000 after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
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