In what seems to be the most serious attempt in weeks to stop the fighting in the battered Palestinian enclave and free Israeli and foreign detainees, talks for a Gaza truce were under way in Paris on Friday.
The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has started holding separate meetings with representatives from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, according to a source briefed on the ceasefire talks who wished to remain anonymous because to national security concerns. The source stated, “There are growing indications of hope regarding our ability to get toward the beginning of a meaningful dialogue.”
The commencement of the negotiations was also announced by Al Qahera TV News in Egypt. According to a Hamas source, the militant organization had concluded ceasefire negotiations in Cairo and was now.
In an attempt to prevent an Israeli attack on the Gaza city of Rafah, where over a million displaced people are taking refuge at the southern border of the enclave, mediators have stepped up their attempts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel claims that if a cease-fire is not negotiated quickly, it will strike the city.
Washington has urged its close partner not to take this action, threatening significant civilian casualties in the event that an attack on the city proceeds.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, made his first trip to Cairo since December this past week to talk about a ceasefire.
Previous confirmation from two Egyptian security sources indicated that Abbas Kamel, the head of Egyptian intelligence, will travel to Paris on Friday to meet with the parties.
Hamas, a militant group in the Gaza Strip, has not offered any new proposals at talks with the Egyptians but is waiting for the mediators’ return from their talks with the Israelis. The last time similar talks were held in Paris, they produced an outline for the first extended ceasefire of the war, approved by Israel and the United States. Hamas responded with a counterproposal, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as “delusional”.
Hamas is believed to be holding over 100 hostages seized in the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and will only release them as part of a truce that ends with an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel will not pull out until Hamas is eradicated.
On Thursday, Netanyahu presented his security cabinet with an official plan for Gaza once the fighting stops, emphasizing that Israel expects to maintain security control over the enclave after destroying Hamas and sees no role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) based in the West Bank. Washington favors a role for a reformed PA. Hamas has not changed its stance in the latest push to reach a deal and still demands that a truce end with an Israeli pullout.
(Reuters)
