Hamas seems to be opening a window on the agreement for the exchange of Israeli hostages.
The turning point was announced by the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who announced that he had received "a positive response" from the Islamic faction to the draft agreement mediated in Paris by the USA, Egypt and Qatar itself .
In a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Doha, al Thani specified that Hamas' response includes "some comments, but in general it is positive".
On Telegram the militiamen confirmed that they had transmitted their position to Qatar and Egypt, explaining that they had "tackled with a positive spirit", together with the other Palestinian factions, the mediation proposal developed in the French capital.
However, they insisted on their conditions, first and foremost "a complete and comprehensive ceasefire" and an "end to the aggression", i.e. the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza.
As well as on the "completion of the prisoner exchange".
Hamas' response immediately resonated overseas.
American President Joe Biden, answering questions from journalists at the White House, defined it as "a little beyond the limit" but did not rule anything out, adding that the US is "thinking about it".
In Israel, however, the first comments - despite no official statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the government - are marked by pessimism.
The prime minister's office limited itself to announcing that the Mossad is studying the position of the Palestinian faction.
"But Hamas's response is essentially negative," a high-level political source commented to Channel 12 TV.
Other sources cited by Ynet denounced that "Hamas said yes to the framework of the agreement but set impossible conditions. We will not stop the fighting", they underlined.
The issue of a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of the army from the Strip has always been the biggest obstacle to the realization of a possible agreement, given that Netanyahu's government considers these Hamas conditions "unacceptable".
Now it's up to Blinken - who will arrive in Israel tomorrow at the end of his diplomatic shuttle between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar - to try to smooth out the positions.
Some commentators have argued that he will focus heavily on the promise of a normalization of relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
"I will discuss Hamas' response with Israel tomorrow.
But it is essential" to reach the agreement on the hostages, the secretary of state said.
Precisely regarding the hostages, the New York Times revealed an internal IDF assessment according to which at least 32 of them, a fifth of the 136 kidnapped still in the hands of Hamas, are dead.
The newspaper added that intelligence was being verified that at least 20 more abductees had been killed.
The figure of 32 dead hostages - most killed in the October 7 Hamas attack - is higher than Israel has so far publicly claimed.
On the 123rd day of the war, the IDF is continuing operations in the south of the Strip, especially in Khan Yunis.
In this place, Israeli soldiers found "secret documents confirming the ties between Iran and Hamas in general and with Sinwar in particular", including through "transfers by Tehran of more than 150 million dollars in the years 2014-2020".
The NYT also analyzed images on Tik Tok posted by Israeli soldiers whose behavior is not in line with IDF rules and which the army condemned.
Among these, those of a soldier who raises his thumb at the camera while driving a bulldozer along a street in Beit Lahia ("I stopped counting how many neighborhoods I have razed to the ground") or others which show soldiers vandalizing shops and classrooms derogatory comments about Palestinians.
Finally, tension in the Red Sea shows no sign of abating: Yemen's Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has threatened that the group will "further increase" its actions if Israel does not stop attacks on Gaza.
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