Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv, December 31, 2023. ABIR SULTAN / AFP
By Le Nouvel Obs with AFP
Published on May 25, 2024 at 4:36 p.m.
Free access
Facebook Twitter E-mail Copy link
Send
An Israeli official said this Saturday, May 25, that Israel had the” intention “ to relaunch negotiations this week to obtain the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since October 7. “There is an intention to resume discussions this week” And “there is an agreement” on this point, this official told AFP on condition of anonymity, while the week in Israel begins on Sunday.
Read also
Chronic War in Gaza: Netanyahu in a strategic impasse
Subscriber
Read later
This official did not give further details on the agreement, but Israeli media report that the head of the Mossad (Israeli intelligence services), David Barnea, reached an agreement with the director of the CIA, Bill Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani during a meeting in Paris on a new framework for the negotiations.
At the beginning of May, indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, through Qatar, Egypt and the United States, did not result in a truce agreement associated with the release of hostages and of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
35,903 dead in Gaza according to Hamas
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron received the Prime Minister of Qatar and the Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 after the attack on Israeli soil by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza, leading to the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count. based on official Israeli data.
Read also
Testimony “Are there still people in Gaza who believe in a peaceful solution? »
Subscriber
Read later
That day, 252 people were also taken as hostages into the Palestinian territory. After a truce in November which notably allowed the release of around a hundred of them, 121 hostages are still being held in Gaza, of whom 37 are dead, according to the army.
In response, the Israeli army launched a devastating offensive in the Palestinian territory, which left at least 35,903 dead, mainly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of Hamas, a movement considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union in particular.
By Le Nouvel Obs with AFP
On the subject Israelo-Palestinian conflict
