Mediation efforts between the Israeli occupation and the Hamas movement to establish a truce in Gaza are still continuing, after the Palestinian movement submitted its response to the proposed ceasefire agreement in the Strip, which will also include the release of detainees.
Hamas asked its response on Tuesday to a plan put forward by the heads of American and Israeli intelligence more than a week ago during a meeting in Paris with Egyptian and Qatari officials.
No details were available about the response. Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday: “The movement dealt with the proposal in a positive spirit, ensuring a comprehensive and complete ceasefire, ending the aggression against our people, ensuring relief, shelter, and reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and completing a prisoner exchange.”
American tour
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is touring the Middle East, said he will discuss Hamas’ response with Israeli officials when he visits Israel on Wednesday.
In Doha, Blinken said, “There is still a lot of work to be done, but we still believe that reaching an agreement is possible, and indeed necessary.”
Qatar described Hamas’ response as generally positive, while Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Hamas had shown flexibility.
Dia Rashwan, head of the Egyptian State Information Service, said in a statement published by the agency on its website, “Egypt will discuss all the details of the proposed framework with the concerned parties, including intensifying meetings with them, to reach an agreement among them on its final form as soon as possible.”
40 days
Sources close to the talks said that the truce will last at least 40 days, during which Hamas will release detainees who are still being held in Gaza, and then in two later stages the soldiers and bodies will be handed over, in exchange for the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
The truce would also increase the flow of food and other aid to civilians in Gaza who face hunger and severe shortages of basic supplies.
US President Joe Biden talked about some movement after Hamas delivered its response, but it is not clear whether Hamas or Israel are willing to soften their declared hard-line positions in order to reach a truce agreement.
Israeli withdrawal
A Hamas leader, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday that the movement would not budge from its position that detainees cannot be released unless the war ends and Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Israel will not end its offensive in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that the Kingdom informed the US administration of its firm position that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless the independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders and the “Israeli aggression” against Gaza is stopped.
The Israeli occupation army said on Tuesday that 31 of the remaining detainees in Gaza had died. Israel said earlier that 136 detainees remained in Gaza after 110 of them were released under a week-long truce in November, during which Israel also released 240 Palestinians it was holding.
The Wall Street Journal, citing an Israeli assessment shared with US and Egyptian officials, reported that as many as 50 detainees may have died, meaning about 80 held by Hamas are still alive.
Gaza faces annihilation
The occupation continues its bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip, during the 123rd day of the aggression, leaving hundreds of martyrs and wounded.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, on Tuesday, that the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Strip since October 7 had risen to 27,585 martyrs, the majority of whom were women and children, and 66,978 wounded.
The Ministry said, in a statement, that during the past 24 hours, the occupation committed 12 massacres against entire families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 107 martyrs and 143 injuries.
The Ministry added that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, and the occupation prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them.
____________________________