In Washington, a senior American official announced a telephone conversation between Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden about the current negotiations, without giving further details. It took place this Sunday, January 12,
the day after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced the sending of a delegation of senior officials to participate in the talks being held in Doha, Qatar.
“The Prime Minister discussed with the US President the progress in the negotiations for the release of our hostages and briefed him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team in Doha, aimed at advancing the release of the hostages said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
94 hostages in Gaza
Indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas resumed last weekend in Qatar, but the Israeli side was not represented by senior officials. As the inauguration of Donald Trump approached on January 20, Joe Biden reported on Thursday “real progress” in the negotiations.
-For his part, Donald Trump recently promised “hell” to the region if the hostages were not released before his return to power.
The war in Gaza was sparked by the attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. That day, 251 people were kidnapped. Among them, 94 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
More than 46,500 people, mainly civilians, were killed in the Israeli military campaign of reprisals in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.
