Hassan Al-Warfalli, Agencies (Capitals)
The talks to establish a truce in the Gaza Strip, which took place yesterday in the French capital, witnessed positive progress in reaching a ceasefire agreement and conducting a prisoner and hostage exchange. This came while Jordan and Egypt stressed the necessity of reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution.
Talks aimed at establishing a truce in the Gaza Strip took place yesterday in Paris, in what appears to be the most serious efforts in weeks to stop the fighting in the war-ravaged Strip and to release prisoners and hostages.
A source familiar with the talks said that the ceasefire talks began with the head of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad meeting separately with each party from both the Arab mediation and the United States.
The source said: “There are new signs of optimism that we can move forward towards starting serious negotiations.”
An official from the Palestinian factions said yesterday that the factions’ delegation concluded the ceasefire talks in Cairo, and that it is now waiting to see what the mediators will return from the Paris talks with Israel.
The official explained that the factions showed flexibility on three points: “the duration of the ceasefire in Gaza, the number of prisoners of the first phase of the possible exchange agreement with Israel, and the limits of Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, in order to reach a cessation of war agreement.”
He said that the factions do not mind a truce lasting only 6 weeks, at each stage, and attributed this to “making it easier for the mediators to remove pretexts from Israel and push towards reaching an agreement to stop the war.”
The official added that the Palestinian factions also showed flexibility regarding the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in the first stage, as they waived their requirement to release 1,500 prisoners in exchange for about 40 Israeli detainees of women, children, and elderly civilians, and subject the number of prisoners to negotiation.
The mediators intensified their efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, hoping to stave off an Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in Gaza, where more than a million displaced people live on the southern edge of the Strip.
The last time similar talks were held in Paris, at the beginning of February, the outlines of the first extended ceasefire in the war agreed to by Israel and the United States were reached.
Meanwhile, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed, during a phone call yesterday, the necessity of reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution.
The Jordanian Royal Court said in a statement that the call came within the framework of efforts to reach an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and protect civilians.
The statement stated that King Abdullah stressed, during the call, the necessity of maintaining close coordination between the two countries in light of the serious developments the Gaza Strip is witnessing as a result of the worsening tragic humanitarian situation as a result of an acute shortage of the basic components of life, such as food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel.
The statement indicated that the two sides stressed, during the call, the importance of intensifying work to ensure the adequate delivery of humanitarian, relief and medical aid to the sector and its sustainability. It was also stressed the complete rejection of the escalation of military operations in Gaza and the warning of its dangerous repercussions on the security and stability of the region as a whole.
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