Glimmer of hope for a truce in Gaza After almost seven months of war

Hopes for a second truce in the Gaza Strip associated with the release of hostages were reborn on Monday After almost seven months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken said on Monday that he “hoped” for a favorable response from Hamas to a proposal that he described as “extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel”.

A meeting took place Monday in Cairo between representatives of Egypt and Qatar – mediator countries with the United States – and Hamas, which must give its response to this proposal negotiated between Israel and Egypt.

A Source close to the movement told AFP that the Hamas delegation left Egypt for Doha and that a response would be given “as quickly as possible”.

“A very generous offer of a 40-day ceasefire, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of these hostages” was made to Hamas, said Monday in Riyadh the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron.

Since the start of the war, only one week-long truce has been established at the end of November. It allowed the release of some 80 Israeli or binational hostages and around twenty foreigners, mostly Thai agricultural workers, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel.

After Riyadh, Mr. Blinken is expected in Israel on Tuesday, as part of a new tour of the Middle East intended to promote a new truce in the besieged Palestinian territory plunged into a major humanitarian crisis.

In Riyadh, Mr. Blinken also reiterated his country’s opposition to an Israeli offensive on the overpopulated town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, which has become a huge refugee camp housing nearly a million and a half Palestinians in catastrophic health conditions.

According to doctors and Civil Defense, Israeli strikes on several houses left 22 people dead overnight in this city.

“We ask the whole world to call for a lasting truce, that is enough,” said a man, Abou Taha, who was watching over relatives killed at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah.

“A real hell”

After having endured the cold of winter, the displaced families are now suffering the heat which rises at the end of April, without running water, barely protected from the sun under the canvases of the tents.

“The water we drink is hot,” said Ranine Aouni al-Arian, a mother displaced from the neighboring town of Khan Younes.

“Children can no longer stand the heat and the bites of flies and mosquitoes,” she explains. Her baby, whom she holds in her arms, has a face covered in bites.

“We are living in real hell,” Hanane Saber, a 41-year-old displaced person, also told AFP.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned that “as temperatures warm, the risk of disease spread increases”.

Despite the disapproval of many capitals and humanitarian organizations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that an offensive on Rafah is necessary to defeat Hamas and free the hostages held in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7.

“Too early”

Egypt said on Monday it was “hopeful” in a truce.

However, Zaher Jabareen, one of the Hamas negotiators, told AFP that it was “too early to speak of a positive atmosphere in the negotiations.”

Above all, Hamas demands “a permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, a hypothesis that Israel has always refused, he stressed.

Hamas also demands “an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, a clear timetable for the start of reconstruction and an exchange agreement that removes all injustice towards Palestinian detainees, men and women”, he said.

According to media reports, the Israeli war cabinet initially demanded the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza, before authorizing negotiators to lower this number.

The American news site Axios indicated that Israel was demanding the release of women, civilians or soldiers, and men over 50 or in poor health.

According to Axios, Hamas claims that only 20 hostages meet these criteria. The site adds that the number of days of truce would be equal to that of the hostages released.

“Bringing our loved ones home”

On Monday, relatives of two Israeli hostages who appeared in a video released by Hamas on Saturday called for their immediate release.

“Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the United States … we urge you to do everything in your power to bring our loved ones home now,” said Elan Siegel, daughter of Keith Siegel, 64 years old, kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas.

The war was launched on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report established from official Israeli data.

More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain captive in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials.

In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization, along with the United States and the European Union. Its offensive in Gaza left 34,488 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

In addition to Rafah, bombings targeted the Palestinian camp of Nousseirat, in the center of the Gaza Strip, on Monday, according to AFP images, as well as the city of Gaza (north).

“If there is a (truce) agreement, we will suspend the operation in Rafah,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli channel N12 on Saturday.

Furthermore, the Israeli army reported on Monday the death of two of its soldiers, bringing to 263 the number of its soldiers killed since the start of the war.

burx-cn/hme