Negotiations launched on Friday in Paris to promote a truce in the Gaza Strip have achieved “progress.” This was reported this Saturday by Israeli media, which point out that Israel's war cabinet will meet this Saturday or Sunday to discuss the matter.
According to the Israeli newspaper Walla, which cites two sources familiar with the negotiations, Friday's meeting in the French capital, in which representatives of Israel, Egypt and Qatar participated, concluded with a new proposal from Washington “that could allow progress towards detailed negotiations for an agreement”although the newspaper did not offer details about it.
“Significant progress was made,” the English-language Israeli newspaper Haaretz published, according to sources familiar with the meeting, in which The director of Mossad, David Barnea, participated; the head of the internal intelligence service (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, and representatives of the Army, according to Walla.
David Barnea, the head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency, landed in the French capital on Friday with the aim of promoting a new ceasefire that includes the release of the hostages still in Gaza.
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White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that negotiations are on the right track and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz gave some of the first signs “that indicate the possibility of progress.”
According to Israeli media, Among the details that remain to be discussed is the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners who will be freed by Israeli hostages as part of the agreement.
According to Haaretz, “all parties are demonstrating flexibility” and an agreement may be reached before Ramadan.
Already on Thursday, Palestinian sources from Cairo detailed to Efe that a cessation of hostilities in the Strip could be reached in the coming days, since Hamas would be willing to make certain “concessions.”
The Islamists would be willing to six weeks of temporary truce as long as “talks for a permanent ceasefire” begin immediately afterwards, Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk detailed that day in an interview with the Egyptian radio station Al Ghad.
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All parties are demonstrating flexibility
The Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, also participated in the negotiations; the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and the head of the CIA, Bill Burns.
A source from the Islamist movement also stated that The new truce plan proposes the exchange of between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners for 35 or 40 Israeli hostages.
Prior to said multilateral meeting, the White House advisor for the Middle East and who heads the hostage negotiations, Brett McGurk, visited Cairo and met on Thursday with the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, who recalled that Israel foresees the “continuation of intense ground operations” in the Strip.
For his part, one of the war cabinet ministers, Benny Gantz, warned that day that if an agreement is not reached with Hamas, Israel will invade the city of Rafah in March, the month in which Ramadan begins.
We will leave “no stone unturned” in the effort to free those kidnapped on October 7, Gantz said during a press conference at Army headquarters in Tel Aviv, where he also confirmed “initial signs that indicate the possibility of moving forward” towards a truce.
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The talks in Paris come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a first “post-war” plan for Gaza, a project that sparked criticism from the United States, a key ally of Israel. The proposal, which suggests that Israel maintain “security control” in that territory and in the occupied West Bank, was rejected by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
Currently, the situation in the narrow territory of Gaza, governed by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since 2007, worsens every day.
The UN warned of the risk of “mass famine” due to food and water shortages caused by the Israeli siege.
The Islamist movement, classified as a “terrorist” organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union, denounced on Saturday that the Israeli army launched more than 70 bombings against Deir al Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah, in central and southern Gaza. At least 92 people died in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
The conflict broke out on October 7 after the Hamas attack in southern Israel, which left about 1,200 dead, mostly civilians. Islamist militants captured 250 people that day, 100 of whom were exchanged in November for 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Israeli authorities estimate that there are still 130 hostages in Gaza, of which 30 have died.
In response to the attack, Israel launched an air and ground offensive that has already caused 29,606 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.
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Clashes between Islamist militiamen and Israeli soldiers rage throughout the territory. “We have neither water nor flour and we are very tired because we are hungry (…),” described Um Wajdi Alha, a resident of Jabalia, about four kilometers north of Gaza City.
AFP and EFE
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