The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, will meet that Wednesday with Israeli leaders while
Hamas suggested that it is open to a new ceasefire
and agreeing to the release of more hostages, but both parties remain locked in their objectives, for now elusive. , as the war enters its fifth month.
Hamas, for its part,
presented a three-phase plan
that would be developed over
four and a half months
, in response to the proposal prepared by the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt.
According to him
, all the hostages would be freed
in exchange for
hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned
by Israel, including prominent insurgents, and
the end of the war.
The plan would leave Hamas in power in Gaza and allow it to rebuild its military capabilities, a scenario that Israeli leaders
have categorically rejected
.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, indicated that the insurgent group's demands were “a little exaggerated” but that negotiations
will continue.
In the deadliest confrontation in the history of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians ,
more than 27,000 Palestinians have died , entire neighborhoods have been razed, the vast majority of Gaza's population has been forced to abandon their homes and a quarter of the population
has no money
.
what to eat
Antony Blinken in Qatar seeks to advance a ceasefire agreement.
Photo: Reuters
Iran-backed insurgent groups in the region have carried out attacks, mainly against US and Israeli targets, in solidarity with the Palestinians, prompting retaliation while increasing the
risk of the conflict expanding.
Israel remains deeply shocked by the Hamas attack on October 7, when the insurgents raided the south of the country after overcoming its border defenses
and
killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in addition to taking some 250 hostages, of whom
almost half remain captive in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that the war
will continue until “total victory”
over Hamas and the return of all hostages.
Blinken, visiting the region for the fifth time since the start of the war,
is trying to make progress
in ceasefire talks while pushing for a broader postwar deal in which
Saudi Arabia would normalize its relationship with Israel
in return. of a “clear, credible and time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
But Netanyahu, who
is increasingly unpopular
, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, and his conservative governing coalition could collapse if he is seen as making too many concessions.
Misery grows in Gaza
In Gaza, where Palestinians long for an end to fighting that has shaken every aspect of their lives, there is little talk of major diplomatic agreements.
“
We pray to God that this ends
,” said Ghazi Abu Issa, who fled his home and took refuge in the city of Deir al-Balah, in the center of the enclave. “There is no water, no electricity, no food and no toilets. ".
Those living in tents have been affected by winter rains and flooding.
“They have humiliated us
,” she added.
The number of Palestinians killed in the conflict amounted to 27,585 people, indicated the Ministry of Health in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, which does not distinguish between civilian victims and combatants, but maintains that two thirds of the dead
are women and minors.
A girl walks among the ruins in an area of Rafah hit by bombing.
Photo: SAID KHATIB / AFP
Hamas continues
to put up firm resistance throughout the territory
and its police have returned to the streets in places where Israeli troops have withdrawn.
Hamas is holding more than 130 hostages, but it is believed that about
30 of them are dead
, the majority since October 7.
Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area equivalent to two-thirds of the small coastal territory.
This includes the homes of about three-quarters of the 2.3 million people in Gaza before the war, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.
Most of the displaced
are crowded into Rafah
, a southern city near the border with Egypt, where many live in squalid tent settlements and overflowing shelters run by the UN.
Hamas' conditions for an agreement
Hamas's response to the ceasefire proposal
was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar,
close to the powerful Hezbollah militia.
A Hamas official and two Egyptian officials confirmed its authenticity on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press about the delicate negotiations.
First phase
In the
first phase
, lasting 45 days, Hamas
would release women and children
who remain captive, as well as
elderly and sick men
in exchange for
women, minors, the elderly and sick Palestinian prisoners
detained by Israel.
In addition, Israel would release about 1,500 more prisoners, including 500 requested by the group, among whom could be high-ranking insurgents sentenced to life in prison.
Israel would also
withdraw from populated areas
, cease its air operations, allow in
much more aid
and allow Palestinians to return to their homes, including in the devastated northern part of the enclave.
Second stage
The
second phase
, which would be negotiated during the first, would include
the release of the rest of the hostages
, mostly soldiers, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, and
Israel would complete its withdrawal from the Strip
.
In the latter, both sides
would exchange the bodies of hostages and dead prisoners.
Israelis agonize over the fate of the hostages
In Israel, attention is focused on the plight of the hostages.
Families and the population demand an agreement with Hamas
, fearing that time is running out.
Israeli forces have rescued only one hostage, while the insurgent group said several were killed in Israeli airstrikes and failed rescue missions.
More than 100 captives, mostly women and children, returned home during a week-long ceasefire in November in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Thousands of people have participated in weekly protests calling for the release of the hostages and the
calling of new elections
.
But Netanyahu is beholden to his far-right coalition allies, who have threatened to topple the government if he gives too much in negotiations.
Thousands of people have participated in weekly protests calling for the release of the hostages.
Photo: Reuters
This could spell
the end of Netanyahu's long political career
and expose him to justice over old
corruption allegations.
But the longer the war continues,
the greater the risk that it will spread to other nations
, dragging the United States and its allies into a more unstable region.
Israel and the powerful Lebanese insurgent group Hezbollah have been fighting a low-intensity conflict along their shared border since the start of the war in Gaza, and violence has increased in the occupied West Bank due to nighttime raids by the Israeli army to carry out arrests.
Iranian-backed groups in Syria and Iraq have launched
dozens of attacks on bases housing Washington troops
, and last week killed three US soldiers, prompting a wave of retaliatory airstrikes.
The United States and the United Kingdom have launched offensives against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are supported by Tehran, in response to their attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, which disrupted global trade.
The Houthis, who present their operations as a blockade of Israel although they have hit ships with little or no known connection to the country, carried out two more attacks on Tuesday.