War in the Middle East
The struggle for a ceasefire in Gaza continues
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking to his course. photo
© Abir Sultan/AP/dpa
In the indirect negotiations in Cairo, the fronts appear to have hardened further. Hamas is said to be planning to present a counter-proposal for an agreement soon. The events at a glance.
Hopes for an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages rose on Saturday when a delegation of Hamas’ political leadership from the Gulf emirate of Qatar arrived in Cairo to continue indirect talks. Hamas circles said that people arrive with a “positive attitude” in order to reach an agreement. Israel, on the other hand, is not sending a team to the Egyptian capital for the time being. Israel will only send a delegation once Hamas has responded to a proposal for an agreement, the Israeli Kan broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing a government representative. A government spokesman did not want to comment on this when asked. If Hamas approves the draft, Israel will send a delegation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.
Blinken: Difficult to understand what Hamas is thinking
Meanwhile, the United States asked Qatar to expel Hamas’ political leadership from the country if the Islamist organization in Cairo does not agree to an agreement, the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed official as saying on Saturday evening. The Gulf Emirate is ready to comply if asked, it said. However, Hamas’s actual decision-makers are “the people who are in the Gaza Strip itself and with whom none of us have direct contact,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said. “So it’s a challenge to understand what they’re thinking.” There are various theories as to what is currently driving Hamas’ decisions.
Report: Hamas reportedly plans to present counterproposal soon
According to the Wall Street Journal, Hamas’s military leader in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, spoke for the first time on Friday through Hamas representatives about the mediators’ latest proposal for an agreement. This proposal comes closest to the demands of his terrorist organization so far, but Sinwar has made a number of reservations, it said, citing the Arab mediators. Sinwar is believed to be in Hamas tunnels beneath the sealed-off coastal area. Hamas is expected to present a counterproposal soon, it said. Hamas wants international guarantees that Israel will begin negotiations on a way to permanently silence the weapons, the newspaper further quoted the mediators as saying.
Egyptian sources told the Wall Street Journal that Israel had given Hamas one more week to agree to a ceasefire agreement. Otherwise, Israel will launch the announced ground offensive on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. The subject of the indirect negotiations, in which Egypt, Qatar and the USA are mediating, is a proposal that envisages the release of hostages held by Hamas and the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip by Israel in several phases. Hamas continued to demand a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. Israel, which has declared the complete destruction of Hamas as its goal, has so far rejected this.
Thousands demonstrate in Israel for the release of hostages
Meanwhile, several thousand people demonstrated on Saturday evening in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for a negotiated solution to release the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. There was also loud criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls for new elections. “Netanyahu is once again trying to torpedo the only chance we have to rescue the hostages,” said a statement from the hostages’ relatives. An Israeli military offensive in Rafah would be a “death sentence” for the hostages, emphasized the brother of a man held in Gaza. Opposition leader Jair Lapid demanded that the government send negotiators to Cairo that night “and tell them not to return without a deal.”
Israeli military reports killing of Islamist commander
Israel’s military says it has killed a commander of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad in an airstrike in southern Gaza. The army said on Saturday evening that the man had led numerous attacks against Israel in recent years. He was also responsible for the attack on a kibbutz and a military post on October 7th. Terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out a massacre that day, killing more than 1,200 people, in attacks on kibbutzim, army posts and a music festival. It was the trigger for the war.
Meanwhile, four Palestinians were killed and a police officer injured during an anti-terror operation by Israeli security forces in the West Bank. A terror suspect had been arrested, it was said late on Saturday evening – after there had initially been talk of five deaths. According to reports, soldiers and police surrounded a house north of the city of Turkam where suspected members of a terrorist cell were staying. After shots were fired from the building, the security forces returned fire. The house was also attacked by an Israeli drone. Military equipment and weapon parts were confiscated in the building, it said.