“Ramadan is coming and there was an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in (military) operations during Ramadan, in order to give us time to bring out all the hostages” held by the Palestinian Islamist movement , declared Joe Biden in an interview with American television NBC.
In recent days, Washington has been increasing pressure for an agreement to be found.
The President of the United States even declared on Monday that he was “hopeful” that a ceasefire would take place in Gaza “by next Monday”.
A six-week truce?
The mediating countries, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, are still trying to negotiate a compromise with both parties with a view to a truce.
According to a Hamas source, the discussions concern the first phase of a plan drawn up in January by the mediators, which provides for a six-week truce, associated with a release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners held by Israel, as well as as the entry into Gaza of a large quantity of humanitarian aid.
According to an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity to the Ynet site, the trend toward reaching an agreement is “positive.”
There still remain important points of divergence.
Israel is demanding the release of all hostages during the break and has warned that a truce would not mean the end of the war.
Even going so far as to assert on Sunday that an offensive would be launched on Rafah even in the event of an agreement.
Hamas, for its part, is demanding a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the lifting of the blockade imposed by Israel since 2007.
Meeting between Macron and the Emir of Qatar
The truce will undoubtedly be on the menu of discussions between Emmanuel Macron and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim ben Hamad Al-Thani, received in Paris this Tuesday from 4 p.m. for a two-day state visit, while Qatar plays major role in Hamas hostage issue and peace talks.
According to Qatar's official news agency, the emir just met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha and discussed efforts "aimed at reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire agreement."
In the meantime, the UN Secretary General warned on Monday that humanitarian aid programs in the Gaza Strip would end in the event of an offensive on the overpopulated town of Rafah, from which Israel wants to evacuate civilians. to definitively defeat Hamas.
The offensive “would not only be terrifying for the more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there;
it would also sound the death knell for our aid programs,” Antonio Guterres warned before the Human Rights Council in Geneva.