Will hopes for a new truce finally materialize?
Negotiations have been underway for weeks, but they have taken a more serious turn in recent days.
Israel and Hamas are discussing a plan to pause the fighting, but many points remain blocked.
The mediators try to convince both parties.
What does the truce plan contain?
The details have not been revealed and the project is not set in stone since the discussions have not been completed... especially since the two parties do not agree.
According to Reuters, Hamas proposed a three-phase plan.
First, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of the enclave and permission to rebuild hospitals and refugee camps.
During this period, the women, men under 19, elderly and sick people kidnapped on October 7 and still held in the Gaza Strip would be released, in exchange for Palestinian women and children held prisoner in the Jewish state.
Next, the release of all Israeli male hostages in exchange for the return of a number of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom received life sentences.
A second phase which would be accompanied by the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Finally, a period of 45 days during which the bodies of the dead from both sides will be exchanged and at the end of which Hamas hopes to have reached an agreement ending the war.
According to Israeli security sources, nearly 30 hostages died.
Who are the intermediaries?
As since the start of the conflict, which followed the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Hebrew territory on October 7, the United States, Egypt and Qatar play an important role in the discussions between the two belligerents.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is due to discuss the response made by Hamas with Israeli leaders this Wednesday, as part of his fifth tour to the Middle East.
The new draft agreement was drawn up in Paris at the end of January, by Qatari mediators - including the Prime Minister -, American and Egyptian.
Where are the discussions?
On Tuesday, Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Doha had “received a response from Hamas regarding the general framework of the hostage agreement.
This response contains a few comments, but is overall positive.”
He even declared himself “optimistic” about the possibility that the negotiations would succeed.
Also read: Israel-Hamas war: is the truce proposal really likely to succeed?
This response, made by the Palestinian Islamist movement, was transmitted to Mossad - the Israeli foreign intelligence service.
“The details are being carefully considered by officials involved in the negotiations,” said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There is still a lot of work to be done (
to arrive at a new truce
).
But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and even essential, and we will continue to work tirelessly to achieve it,” Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
What's stuck?
The agreement contains several sticking points.
Starting with the very principle of stopping the fighting.
Hamas demands a ceasefire - that is, an end to the fighting - before any agreement.
For its part, Israel only wants a break, Benjamin Netanyahu having promised to destroy Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister reiterated Tuesday: “We are on the path to total victory and we will not stop.
This position is that of the overwhelming majority of the population.”
“We are against a ceasefire,” confirmed Alona Fisher Kamm, Israeli ambassador and charge d’affaires in France, on BFMTV-RMC this Wednesday.
“We must be sure that the hostages are released and that Hamas is eradicated, before that there is no ceasefire, we are talking about a truce,” she insisted.
The profile of Palestinian prisoners who will be released could also pose a problem.
“The question is whether Israel is ready to let go of people accused of having committed blood crimes,” which was not the case during the first truce, David Rigoulet-Roze explained to the Parisian at the end of January.