Discussions relaunched? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light to a new round of talks in Doha and Cairo, with a view to a truce in Gaza, his office said on Friday, after negotiations appeared to be deadlocked.
“Benyamin Netanyahu met with the director of Mossad (Israeli foreign services) and the director of Shin bet (domestic intelligence), and approved a new round of negotiations in the coming days, in Doha and Cairo,” said his office in a statement.
An impossible agreement?
Since the adoption by the United Nations Security Council on Monday of a resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire", Israel and Hamas have been blaming each other for their inability to reach an agreement on a truce, after almost six months of war between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip. This resolution is likely to have very little effect on the ongoing conflict.
Qatar, the mediating country, indicated on Tuesday that negotiations between Hamas and Israel on a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages were continuing, but little information had since been communicated by the different parties. Netanyahu's office added that the prime minister spoke with Mossad chief David Barnea about the negotiations, but did not say whether Barnea would travel to Doha or Cairo for the talks.
Also read Ceasefire in Gaza: is the United States changing its policy towards Israel?
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out from the Gaza Strip by Hamas on October 7 in Israel which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count established in from official Israeli data. According to Israel, around 250 people were also kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom died.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union, and launched an offensive that left 32,623 people dead, mostly women and children. , according to a latest report Friday from the Hamas Ministry of Health.