Hamas and Israel accused each other on Wednesday of stalling negotiations for an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, where the two camps have been at war for more than a year .
The Palestinian Islamist movement first criticized Israel for having put “new conditions” on the table in the indirect discussions underway in Doha for several days, under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the United States. United.
According to him, they would concern the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the ceasefire, the return home of displaced people and an exchange between Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and hostages held in Gaza. These “conditions have postponed the conclusion of an agreement”, affirmed the movement in a press release.
Israel took only a few minutes to respond, in turn accusing Hamas of “posing new obstacles in the negotiations.”
“The terrorist organization Hamas is once again lying, going back on points that were the subject of an agreement,” denounced the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinian movement clarified that negotiations were continuing in Doha, but these statements contrast with the optimism displayed in recent days on both sides.
– “Time to bring them back” –
Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday, with “caution”, of “progress” for an agreement on the hostages in Gaza, confirmed the next day after the return to Israel of the negotiators sent to Doha.
Hamas and two other Palestinian groups, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said last week that a ceasefire agreement was “closer than ever” if Israel did not impose new conditions.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts, no truce has been concluded since the one-week truce at the end of November 2023, the month following the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas on Israeli soil, which triggered the war.
This attack of unprecedented scale led to the death of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
That day, 251 people were kidnapped. Among them, 96 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in power in Gaza and launched a devastating military campaign that has killed more than 45,361 Palestinians, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry deemed reliable by the UN. It also caused a humanitarian disaster in the small, besieged Palestinian territory.
As the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah prepares to begin, relatives of Israeli hostages on Wednesday urged Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement.
“It's time to bring them back, Netanyahu, it's up to you. Everyone wants them back and is ready to pay a high price, but it's time, don't wait,” urged at a rally on the “hostage square” in Tel Aviv Sharon Sharabi, brother of Eli and Yossi Sharabi, both hostages in Gaza, Yossi having died in captivity.
– Future governance –
Among the main sticking points between Israel and Hamas are the permanent nature of a ceasefire and the governance of the Gaza Strip after the war.
Israel strongly opposes the Palestinian movement ever again ruling the territory.
“There will be no Hamas power or Hamas military organization here, but a new reality thanks to the fighting that continues daily,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.
He was speaking from the Philadelphia Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli army along the border between Gaza and Egypt, which is also a sticking point in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip's Civil Defense announced that at least 17 Palestinians “including women and children” were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday.
