© Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Overseas Affairs Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at Lusail Palace, in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. Mark Schi
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By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mohammed, Salem and Humeyra Pamuk
DOHA/GAZA, 2024 (Reuters) – U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators ready a diplomatic push to bridge variations between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire plan for Gaza after the Palestinian group responded to a proposal for an prolonged pause in preventing and hostage releases.
Hamas on Tuesday replied to a framework drawn up greater than per week in the past by U.S. and Israeli spy chiefs at a gathering in Paris with the Egyptians and Qataris.
Particulars of the response weren’t disclosed. In an announcement Hamas stated on Tuesday it responded “in a positive spirit, ensuring a comprehensive and complete ceasefire, ending the aggression against our people, ensuring relief, shelter, and reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and achieving a prisoner swap.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a lightning tour of the Center East, stated he would talk about the Hamas response with Israeli officers when he visits the nation on Wednesday.
In Doha, Blinken stated, “There’s still a lot of work to do … but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible, and indeed essential.”
Qatar described the Hamas response as “positive” total whereas Egyptian safety sources instructed Reuters that Hamas confirmed flexibility.
“We will discuss all the details of the proposed framework with the concerned parties to reach an agreement on the final formula as soon as possible,” Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Data Service, was quoted as saying.
Sources near the talks have stated the truce would final no less than 40 days, throughout which the militants would free civilians among the many remaining hostages they maintain.
Additional phases would observe, handy over troopers and lifeless our bodies of hostages, in trade for releases of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The truce would additionally improve the stream of meals and different support to Gaza’s determined civilians who’re going through starvation and dire shortages of primary provides.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated the Hamas response confirmed “some movement” towards a deal. Nevertheless it was unclear if both Hamas or Israel had been keen to melt their said hardline positions with a view to attain a truce settlement.
A Hamas official who requested to not be recognized reiterated to Reuters earlier on Tuesday that the Palestinian Islamist motion wouldn’t permit any hostage releases with out ensures that the warfare would finish and Israeli forces depart Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israel is not going to finish its Gaza marketing campaign till Hamas is worn out and has dominated out the creation of a Palestinian state.
Saudi Arabia has instructed the U.S. its place stands that there can be no diplomatic relations with Israel until an unbiased Palestinian state is recognised on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem, and Israeli “aggression” in Gaza stops, the Saudi overseas ministry stated in an announcement on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia put U.S.-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, sources conversant in Riyadh’s considering instructed Reuters in Oct, 2023, because the warfare between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israeli forces escalated.
MORE HOSTAGES MAY BE DEAD
There’s a rising Israeli motion demanding extra effort to deliver the hostages house, even when meaning a cope with Hamas.
Israel’s army stated on Tuesday that 31 of the remaining hostages in Gaza had been pronounced lifeless. Israel beforehand stated 136 hostages had been nonetheless in Gaza after 110 had been freed underneath a seven-day November truce when Israel additionally launched 240 Palestinians it was holding.
Citing an Israeli evaluation shared with U.S. and Egyptian officers, the Wall Avenue Journal reported that as many as 50 hostages might be lifeless, leaving about 80 hostages alive.
Israel started its army offensive in Gaza after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 individuals and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Gaza’s Well being Ministry says no less than 27,585 Palestinians have been confirmed killed in Israel’s army marketing campaign, with hundreds extra feared buried underneath rubble.
On the bottom in Gaza, Israeli forces on Tuesday saved up strain on Khan Younis, the principle southern metropolis they’ve been attempting to seize for weeks. No less than 14 individuals had been killed by air strikes, Palestinian residents and medics stated.
Rafah, simply south of it, was additionally hit by air strikes and tank shelling. Two individuals had been killed in a strike on a home in Rafah whereas six policemen died after their automobile was hit, Gaza well being officers stated.
Israeli leaders vowed final week to push into Rafah subsequent, alarming worldwide support companies who say 1,000,000 displaced civilians could be in hurt’s means, pinned in opposition to the border fence with Egypt.