Israel and Hamas at war | Gaza ceasefire deal could be reached

(Jerusalem) Qatar said Tuesday that a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip could be concluded “very soon”, after 15 months of a war between Israel and Hamas which has killed tens of thousands of deaths.

One week before the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House, indirect negotiations have intensified with a view to a truce associated with the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory since the Hamas attack against Israel on the 7th. October 2023, which started the war.

Qatar, the main mediating country with the United States and Egypt, said ongoing negotiations in Doha were “at the final stage” and that the “main issues” blocking a deal had been resolved.

“We hope that this will lead to an agreement very soon,” added a spokesperson for Qatari diplomacy.

According to two Palestinian sources close to the negotiations, 33 hostages should be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, in exchange for a thousand Palestinians detained by Israel.

Israel meanwhile is increasing airstrikes against the Palestinian Islamist movement across the Gaza Strip, where at least 18 people, including children, were killed overnight, according to emergency services.

These strikes targeted Deir el-Balah, in the center of the territory, Gaza City in the north and the Khan Younes region, in the south.

In total, at least 61 people were killed in 24 hours, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry.

“Last night was hard and bloody. The occupation carried out dozens of air and artillery strikes across the entire Gaza Strip,” Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said.

The Israeli army claimed that “several” airstrikes had targeted “Hamas terrorists”.

Five Israeli soldiers, according to the army, were killed Monday in combat in the north of the territory, where most of the offensive against Hamas has been concentrated since the fall.

“At your fingertips”

Since the start of the war, only one one-week truce has been observed at the end of November 2023 and negotiations since have been met with intransigence from both camps.

But the talks now appear to be on course to succeed in the run-up to Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency on January 20, amid increased international pressure on the various parties.

Donald Trump recently promised “hell” to the region if the hostages were not released before his return to power.

An agreement based on a three-phase American proposal formulated at the end of May 2024 is “on the verge of being concluded,” American President Joe Biden said Monday evening.

His National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, assured that an agreement was “within reach”, and possible as early as this week, in order to establish a ceasefire associated with the release of the 94 hostages still held at Gaza, 34 of whom died according to the army.

According to a source close to the negotiations, 33 Israeli hostages would initially be released “in groups, starting with children and women”.

According to the Times of Israel« au 16^e day following the implementation of the agreement, negotiations will begin on a second phase with a view to the release of the last hostages, namely the soldiers, the men of age to be mobilized and the bodies of the dead hostages.

Hamas said it hoped Tuesday that the negotiations would lead to “a clear and comprehensive agreement”.

“The Living and the Dead”

“There is real progress in the last two days,” an Israeli government official said Tuesday: “This time we can hope for good news, we are close to the goal, but not there yet.”

However, he added, Israel will “not leave Gaza until all the hostages are returned, the living and the dead.” And there is no question of a definitive ceasefire, but a temporary one, he stressed.

According to media reports, Israel would be allowed to maintain a “buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire.

In total, 251 people were kidnapped during the attack of October 7, 2023, which traumatized Israel and led to the death of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data Israelis.

At least 46,645 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military campaign of retaliation in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.

According to Israeli commentators, an agreement would be possible in particular because of the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore pressure from his far-right ministers.

“The agreement is truly catastrophic,” said one of them, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, on Tuesday. The day before, another far-right minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said he was opposed to “a surrender agreement. »