DOHA, Qatar (AP) — International mediators are set to hold a new round of talks Thursday aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Libya. Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of dozens of hostages, with the potential deal seen as the best hope for avoiding a larger regional conflict.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt were scheduled to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll in the 10-month-old war mounted. It rose to over 40 thousand.According to local health authorities, Hamas, which is not expected to participate directly, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had American and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.
A ceasefire in Gaza is likely to ease tensions across the region, and diplomats hope it will persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to abandon their aggressive policies. refrain from revenge For killing a senior Hezbollah leader in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, and a senior Hamas political leader in an explosion in Tehran.
Mediators have spent months trying to reach a solution. Three-stage plan The deal includes Hamas releasing dozens of hostages captured in the October 7 attack that sparked the war, in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The two sides agreed in principle to the plan, which US President Joe Biden announced on May 31But Hamas proposed “amendments” and Israel proposed “clarifications,” leading each side to accuse the other of making new demands it could not accept.
Gaps remain even after months of talks
Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest demands, which include a permanent military presence along the border with Egypt and a line dividing Gaza where it will search Palestinians returning home to root out militants, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said. He told the Associated Press The group is only interested in discussing the implementation of Biden’s proposal and not in further negotiations on its content.
A Palestinian official closely following the negotiations said Hamas would not participate in Thursday’s talks but its senior officials based in Qatar were ready to discuss any proposals from the mediators as they had done in previous rounds.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that Israel has made new demands, but he has also repeatedly raised questions about whether the ceasefire will hold, saying Israel remains committed to “complete victory” against Hamas and the release of all hostages.
The most complex conflict concerns the transition from the first phase of the ceasefire – when women, children and other vulnerable hostages are released – to the second phase, when the captured Israeli soldiers are released and a permanent ceasefire is implemented.
Hamas fears that Israel will resume the war after the first batch of hostages is released. Israel fears that Hamas will prolong talks on the release of the remaining hostages indefinitely. Hamdan presented documents showing that Hamas has agreed to an interim American proposal to begin talks on the transition by the 16th day of the first phase and end them by the fifth week.
Recently, Hamas has objected to what it describes as new Israeli demands to maintain a presence along the Gaza-Egypt border and on a road separating northern and southern Gaza. Israel denies that these are new demands, saying it needs a presence along the border to prevent weapons smuggling and that it must inspect Palestinians returning to northern Gaza to ensure they are unarmed.
Those demands were only recently made public. Hamas has demanded a complete Israeli military withdrawal, which has also been part of every previous version of the cease-fire proposal, according to documents seen by The Associated Press and verified by officials involved in the negotiations.
“People no longer have a soul”
The war began when Hamas militants stormed the heavily defended border on October 7 in an attack that shocked Israeli security and intelligence agencies. The fighting swept through farming communities and military bases, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
The movement also kidnapped 250 others. More than 100 were released during a week-long ceasefire in November, and about 110 are believed to remain in Gaza, although Israeli authorities believe about a third of them died on October 7 or are in captivity. Seven were rescued in military operations.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive has killed 40,005 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry said Thursday, without specifying how many militants were involved. The offensive has left widespread destruction across the territory and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times.
“Oh God, we hope they reach an agreement and the war ends, because the population has been completely annihilated. People have no breath left. People are tired,” Abu Nidal Awini told The Associated Press in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.
Successive evacuation orders and military operations have pushed hundreds of thousands of people into the so-called humanitarian zone along the coast, where they live in crowded camps with few services. Aid groups have struggled to deliver food and supplies, sparking warnings of famine.
Hamas has suffered heavy losses, but its fighters have repeatedly managed to regroup, even in heavily destroyed areas where Israeli forces had previously operated.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israel along the border in what the Lebanese militant group says is a front in support of its ally Hamas. Other Iranian-backed groups across the region have also attacked Israeli, American and international targets, drawing retaliation.
Iran and Israel first exchanged direct fire in April, after Iran responded to an Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria that killed two Iranian generals. Many fear a repeat after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was visiting Iran to attend the inauguration of its new president. Israel was widely blamed for the blast. Israel has not said whether it was involved.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has vowed to avenge the killing of its commander Fouad Shukr, raising fears of a more devastating sequel to the 2006 war between Israel and the militant group.
However, Iran and Hezbollah say they do not want an all-out war, and a ceasefire in Gaza could offer a way out after days of escalating threats and military escalation. Huge military buildup All over the region.
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This report was prepared by Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Additional reporting by writers Bassem Mroueh from Beirut and Wafaa Al-Shorafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war on https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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