Gaza war
Negotiations in Cairo: Hamas delegation arrives
Rubble in the Maghazi refugee camp: Joe Biden is personally exerting pressure to ensure the release of Israeli hostages as soon as possible. A six-week ceasefire is also in prospect. photo
© Uncredited/XinHua/dpa
The USA wants to help the indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages to achieve a breakthrough. According to reports, President Biden is now personally addressing the mediators.
Representatives of the Islamist Hamas want to come tomorrow Travel to Cairo to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of more hostages. The delegation will be led by senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Haja, Hamas said. The Al-Jazeera news channel reported, citing Hamas sources, that mediators in the conflict recently maintained close contact with Hamas chief Ismail Haniya to urge a continuation of negotiations.
Hamas will not deviate from its demands in the negotiations, the statement said. These include, among other things, a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israel’s army from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes. Israel, which has declared the destruction of Hamas as its goal, has so far rejected these demands. Haniya made it clear that Hamas’ position on these points remains unchanged, Al-Jazeera reported.
USA asks for pressure on Hamas
According to media reports, US President Joe Biden previously personally asked the mediators Qatar and Egypt to pressure Hamas in the Gaza Strip so that the Islamists agree to an agreement to release Israeli hostages. A proposal is on the table that calls for a six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 hostages, the news portal “Axios” reported, citing a senior US official.
According to the Times of Israel newspaper, Biden asked the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Mosa Nasser Al Missned, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in letters to urge Hamas to agree to such an agreement. According to Axios, the USA wants to help the indirect negotiations achieve a breakthrough in Cairo this weekend.
The negotiations have been going on for weeks
For this purpose, CIA Director Bill Burns is to meet in the Egyptian capital with the head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, as well as Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence Abbas Kamel. For weeks, the USA, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and Hamas in order to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages kidnapped from Israel for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 people abducted by Hamas are still alive.
The hostages to be released under the agreement included Israeli soldiers and other women, men over the age of 50 and men in critical health, wrote the usually well-informed Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in his Axios report.
The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from Hamas and other Islamist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th last year. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 33,000 people have died in Gaza. The number, which is difficult to verify independently, does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.