Will there be a ceasefire in the Gaza war as hoped? US President Biden is optimistic. In Israel we see things differently. The developments at a glance.
While international mediators in the Gaza war continue to strive for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, different signals are coming from the USA and Israel about the status of the difficult negotiations. US President Joe Biden was optimistic that a ceasefire would come next week.
The Israeli television stations Channel 12 and Kan, however, quoted Israeli officials as saying that a negotiating framework proposed by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States was still not compatible with Hamas’ demands. Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of adopting a blockade stance. It still remains uncertain whether the mediators will be able to negotiate a deal by the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan around March 10th.
Biden hopes for a ceasefire by Monday
However, Biden exuded confidence: “My national security advisor tells me that we are close,” he said while eating ice cream in New York in response to a question from the press present. We haven’t reached our goal yet. “I hope that we will have a ceasefire by next Monday,” said the US President. However, Hamas has not yet submitted an official response to the negotiating framework recently proposed by Egypt, Qatar and the United States in Paris, the Times of Israel reported.
The framework that Israel would accept, according to previous media reports, initially calls for a ceasefire of around six weeks. During this time, 40 hostages held by Hamas will be exchanged for several hundred Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The Arabic television channel Al Jazeera put the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel said it was ready to release at 400.
Reports of major rift between Israel and Hamas
A key sticking point appears to be Israel’s insistence that a temporary ceasefire will not guarantee an end to the war, wrote the Times of Israel. But that is exactly what Hamas is demanding. “There is no progress at the moment,” the Israeli news portal “Ynet” quoted a government representative as saying. “There is a big gap between the sides and the mediators are trying to bridge it. We continue to work to achieve results.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking to the war goal of destroying Hamas.
To this end, the military is preparing an offensive on the city of Rafah, which borders Egypt, in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip. The hundreds of thousands of civilians seeking protection there should be brought to safety further north. The military presented corresponding plans to the War Cabinet on Monday. Details about this are not yet known. Israel’s plans in Rafah have met with significant criticism internationally, including from allies.
The Gaza war was triggered by a massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7th. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has since risen to almost 30,000. The high number of civilian casualties among them is clearly criticized internationally.
UN relief agency: Humanitarian deliveries halved in February
According to the UN, the amount of aid delivered to the suffering population was halved in February compared to the previous month. “Aid should have been increased, not decreased, given the enormous needs of two million Palestinians in terrible living conditions,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA), on the X (formerly Twitter) platform. On average, only 98 trucks carrying aid deliveries reached the sealed-off coastal strip every day this month, the UN said. Together with Egypt, Israel controls the border crossings into the sealed off Gaza Strip.
Israel files report with World Court
Meanwhile, Israel has submitted the report requested by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on measures to prevent genocide in the coastal area at the headquarters of the UN court. This was reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing political circles. The country thus complied with a deadline set by the court. The newspaper did not provide any information about the content of the report.
South Africa had accused Israel of alleged violations of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza war. The UN court ruled in an interim ruling that Israel must take protective measures to prevent genocide. In addition, there must be more humanitarian aid for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. The court decides on the accusation of genocide in a lengthy procedure.
Fuss about reports about the use of Israeli SIM cards
Israel strongly denies the allegations of genocide. It invokes its right to self-defense after the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7. A big question to this day is how Israel’s secret service, military and political leadership could have been so surprised. In this context, on Monday media reports about the activation of Israeli SIM cell phone cards by the terrorists shortly before their attack caused a stir.
According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli military was forced to clarify that intelligence had indications that “some” Israeli SIM cards had been activated in Gaza. But these had also been used before without anything happening. Reports that 1,000 cards were activated simultaneously shortly before the attack are false.
Israel kills Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon
Meanwhile, dangerous tensions continue in Israel’s border area with Lebanon. The Israeli military said it killed a senior officer in the Shiite Hezbollah militia in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday. Brigade commander Hussein Salami was targeted for killing because he led rocket attacks on the northern Israeli town of Kiriat Shmona and a local Israeli military command, it said. Hezbollah confirmed Salami’s death but did not provide any information about his rank.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Israel’s conflict with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia has intensified. Israel has already warned several times that it is prepared to use major military force if diplomatic efforts fail.
What will be important on Tuesday
While negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of hostages for prisoners continue, aid organizations in Geneva are reporting on the humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area.