War in the Middle East
Fears about Gaza ceasefire before Ramadan
Israelis take part in a demonstration calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas. photo
© Oded Balilty/AP/dpa
The fasting month of Ramadan, which is holy for Muslims, will begin in a few days. The mediators in the Gaza war want to bring about a last-minute ceasefire. Does that work? The news at a glance.
In the struggle for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war, the mediating states want to do so shortly before the start of the Muslim month of fasting Ramadan with all your might to reach an agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. The USA introduced an amended draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate ceasefire”. The draft resolution for the most powerful UN body states that there is a need for “a rapid and urgent agreement on an immediate ceasefire of around six weeks in Gaza and the release of all hostages.” The text was available to the dpa.
US President Joe Biden emphasized that a temporary ceasefire before Ramadan, which begins in a few days, is urgently needed. In order to gain time for talks about a longer ceasefire, negotiators from the USA, Qatar and Egypt proposed an initial short ceasefire in Cairo, according to the US newspaper “Wall Street Journal”. The talks in Egypt’s capital are scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
Biden: Deal is in the hands of Hamas
“If we get into circumstances where this continues until Ramadan, then it could be very, very dangerous,” said Biden in the US state of Maryland. Ramadan begins around March 10th. “The hostage deal is in the hands of Hamas right now,” Biden added.
Israel and some negotiators believed that Hamas wanted to escalate the fighting to inflame tensions across the region during the holy month of fasting for Muslims, the Wall Street Journal wrote. For its part, Hamas points to Israel’s threat to launch the planned ground offensive in Rafah on Gaza’s southern border if no agreement is reached by Ramadan. Israel wants to destroy the last remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah. In the city that borders Egypt, around 1.5 million Palestinians are currently seeking protection from the fighting in other parts of Gaza.
Israel wants to give Muslims access to the Temple Mount
In order to prevent an escalation of tensions between Israelis and predominantly Muslim Palestinians, Israel’s government wants to initially allow Muslims to pray on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount during Ramadan. During Ramadan, they will be granted access to the shrines similar to previous years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
However, the security situation is reassessed weekly. Right-wing extremist coalition partners of Netanyahu had demanded massive restrictions on Muslims’ access to the Temple Mount during Ramadan. The army and secret services, however, advised against it. Such restrictions could create an explosive situation, they argued. The Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
Lebanon: Indirect talks with Israel during Ramadan
According to Lebanese sources, indirect talks in the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon will also begin during Ramadan. This was announced by the acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, according to the state news agency NNA.
Lebanese officials were considering a proposal from U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, an adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, who was in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks the day before. It was about a diplomatic solution between the Hezbollah militia and Israel, it was said.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the massacre by Hezbollah-allied Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7 last year, there has been repeated shelling in the Israeli-Lebanese border region.
Gaza negotiations should continue
Meanwhile, mediators in the Gaza war want to continue their talks in Cairo about a ceasefire and the release of hostages, according to Egyptian security circles. According to dpa information, they are said to be in an advanced stage. They could bring a ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners within days, it said.
In the past two days, Hamas has dealt positively with proposals from Qatar and Egypt, said a senior Hamas official in the Lebanese capital Beirut. He emphasized Hamas’ position: “The security of our people can only be achieved through an end to the aggression, a ceasefire and the withdrawal of occupying forces from Gaza.”
However, Israel has so far rejected a comprehensive ceasefire and continues to strive for the destruction of Hamas. From Israel’s perspective, only a temporary ceasefire in Gaza is conceivable within the framework of an agreement.
Reports: Telecom services down again
Meanwhile, telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip are reportedly down again. The southern part of the sealed-off coastal area was particularly affected, said the organization NetBlocks, which is known for monitoring Internet blocks, on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
The Israeli news site “Ynet”, citing reports from the Gaza Strip, also reported that internet connections were interrupted in large areas in Rafah in the south of the coastal strip and in the central part of Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, the communication networks in the sealed-off coastal area have failed several times.