A Hamas delegation is due to discuss a truce proposal associated with the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip on Monday in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari representatives. On the ground, deadly Israeli bombings target Rafah in particular
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, during a new tour of the Middle East to promote a truce after almost seven months of war in the Palestinian territory, which will also take him to Israel.
In Cairo, a meeting is planned between Egypt and Qatar, two of the mediator countries with the United States. Hamas must give its response to a new truce proposal negotiated between Israel and Egypt, after months of fruitless discussions.
‘It is too early to speak of a positive atmosphere in the negotiations. The movement has received the Israeli response and is in a consultation phase to respond to it,’ Zaher Jabareen, a member of the Hamas political bureau and the team of negotiators expected in the Egyptian capital, told AFP.
‘Permanent ceasefire’
This official reiterated the demands of the Islamist movement, starting with a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a hypothesis that Israel has always refused to consider.
‘The possibility of success or failure will be determined by the ability to reach a decision on a permanent ceasefire, 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.
Details on release requests
According to media reports, the Israeli war cabinet initially demanded the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, before authorizing negotiators to lower this number.
The American news site Axios indicated that Israel was demanding the release, on humanitarian grounds, 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.
More than 250 people were kidnapped on October 7 and 129 remain captive in Gaza, including 34 who have died, according to Israeli officials.
New deaths
According to an AFP correspondent in the Gaza Strip, witnesses and Civil Defense, several houses were hit overnight by bombings in the center of the territory as well as in Rafah, in the south.
At least 22 people were killed, according to doctors and civil defense, in this city which has become a refuge for nearly a million and a half Palestinians, the vast majority displaced, where Israel says it wants to launch a ground offensive.
Two other strikes killed seven people in the northern city of Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Nearly 34,500 killed in total
The Israeli offensive launched after October 7 in Gaza left a total of 34,454 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
As part of diplomatic efforts to end the war, Antony Blinken is expected this week in Israel, where he last visited in March, as well as in Jordan.
The Secretary of State arrived Monday in Riyadh, where a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held on the subject of the conflict.
Invited to the event, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday called on Washington to prevent Israel from launching an offensive against Rafah. “America is the only country capable of stopping Israel from committing this crime,” he said.
‘If there is an agreement (truce), we will suspend the operation in Rafah,’ however declared Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Saturday to Israeli channel N12. ‘If there is a possibility of reaching an agreement, we will do it,’ he added.
Netanyahu to attack Rafah
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, affirms that an offensive on Rafah is necessary to free the hostages and defeat Hamas, which according to Israel has grouped four battalions in this border town with Egypt, transformed into a huge refugee camp.
Many capitals and humanitarian organizations fear a bloodbath in the event of an offensive on Rafah, which is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid into the territory, besieged by Israel and plunged into a major humanitarian crisis.
Faced with the difficulties of delivering aid by road, particularly to the north of Gaza, several countries are participating in airdrop operations, while the United States has started to build a floating dock facing the coast which should be operational within ‘two to three weeks’, according to Washington.
/ATS
