Last Updated on 04/09/2024 by Arun jain
International mediators are making a fresh effort to bridge the remaining gap between Israel and Hamas over a Gaza ceasefire, according to US and Arab officials, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled his country’s control of the Gaza border. Egypt, a major obstacle.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, as the latest proposals have not yet been finalized. Israeli officials and Hamas leaders have expressed pessimism Despite growing public anger in Israel over the failure to bring home the remaining hostages held in Gaza, the prospects for an agreement.
More than 60 live hostages, and the bodies of up to 35 other hostages, are still in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Mass protests erupted in Israel this week after the bodies of six Israeli hostages were found in Gaza; According to Israel, all of them were recently executed by Hamas. Hamas has issued mixed statements, but at least one strongly suggests that the hostages were killed because their captors realized that Israeli soldiers were nearby.
For months, Egypt, Qatar and the United States have mediated sought to broker an agreement To end the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel and release the hostages. Two rounds of high-level talks in Cairo and Doha last month ended without success.
But Mr Netanyahu has remained steadfast in his position that Israel should retain control of Gaza’s border with Egypt – known as The Philadelphia Corridor – to prevent Hamas from rearming itself, even at the cost of reaching a deal to release more than 100 remaining hostages.
“It will decide our entire future,” Mr Netanyahu told reporters as protesters demanding an immediate ceasefire to free the hostages demonstrated outside his Jerusalem home.
“We must all insist on this, otherwise we will have all this disaster again,” he said Oct. Added referring to the attack of 7.
Hamas has repeatedly said that any ceasefire agreement leads to a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has also expressed strong opposition to a long-term Israeli presence on its border with Gaza.
“Without a withdrawal from the Philadelphia corridor, there will be no agreement,” Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya told pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera this week.
An Arab official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining Israeli control of the Philadelphia corridor now poses a major obstacle to a deal.
Post Officials say mediators pushing to fill gaps in Gaza cease-fire plan appeared first New York Times.