Israel, however, say that the only way to end the war is “total victory”.
The United States and Qatar assured that negotiations for the release of the hostages in Gaza are advancing. However, Israel assured that it will not accept as a bargaining chip an end to the war in the enclave, where fighting has resurfaced in the northern area after almost four months of offensive.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, and the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohamed bin Abderrahman Al Thani, mediator in the Gaza war, affirmed this Monday that there has been progress towards an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a truce and the release of hostages.
The Qatari president met in Washington with the head of American diplomacy a day after having participated in Paris in a meeting with the heads of the Israeli, American and Egyptian intelligence services in search of an agreement. “I think that right now we are in a much better position than we were weeks ago,” said Al Thani during a speech at the Atlantic Council think tank after concluding the meeting with Blinken.
The prime minister explained that “good progress” was made in Paris and a proposal was articulated for a truce and the release of hostages that Qatar will transfer to Hamas in the hope that it will respond in a “positive and constructive” manner.
Al Thani explained that his role is to achieve “a negotiated solution” that allows “the safe return of the hostages to their homes” and that “the bombings and deaths of civilians stop” in the Gaza Strip.
In a subsequent press conference, Blinken said that the work done in the Paris negotiations is “important and hopeful,” and stressed that it is now Hamas that has to “make a decision.” “I believe that the proposal that is on the table, shared by main actors, such as Israel, but also the mediators of Qatar and Egypt, is a strong, convincing proposal and offers hope,” said the head of US diplomacy.
Blinken also assured that the release of the hostages is one of the “highest priorities” of the United States, given that there are nationals of that country among those kidnapped. Israel and Hamas reached a single truce agreement for one week, between November 24 and 30, which stopped the fighting and allowed the exchange of 105 hostages, including foreigners, for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners; something that has not been repeated since then.
The Palestinian Islamist group is now demanding a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the release of the rest of the hostages, something that the Israeli government has said it is not willing to accept. Israel assured that it will not accept as a bargaining chip an end to the war in Gaza, where fighting has resurfaced in the northern area after almost four months of offensive.
“The reports about the (truce) agreement are incorrect and include conditions that are not acceptable to Israel,” the Israeli Government warned today in a statement, in which it reiterated “total victory” as its ultimate objective.
“The road to an agreement is (still) long,” an Israeli official told the EFE agency today, who insisted “everything possible is and will continue to be done to free the hostages,” who are already in the hands of Hamas. a total of 115 days of war.
