Meetings continue in the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a deal to exchange prisoners and detainees between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.
Participating in the meetings are the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the Director of the CIA, William Burns, and the head of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad), David Barnea.
Reuters quoted an informed official that the talks will seek to reach a new short-term ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of some detainees held by Hamas, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
For its part, the American Fox News channel quoted an informed source as saying that the main goal of the meeting is to discuss a ceasefire lasting less than a month.
Haaretz newspaper reported that the Mossad chief will remain in the Qatari capital to continue the talks, and explained that the concerned parties are studying the possibility of meeting technical teams within days.
For their part, informed sources indicated that the talks are preparing for a larger summit in the coming days to discuss a broader ceasefire that includes Gaza and Lebanon.
The New York Times quoted an Israeli official as saying that the Doha negotiations will test Hamas’ decision-making process after the martyrdom of the head of its political bureau, Yahya Sinwar.
The newspaper also said, citing American and Qatari officials, that it is not clear whether Hamas is ready to return to ceasefire negotiations.
Israeli Channel 12, citing unnamed sources, spoke of “cautious optimism” as the talks entered their second day, but said that other sources expressed concern “that despite the dynamics of the ongoing negotiations after the assassination of Sinwar, there is in fact no possibility of achieving real progress as long as “There is no flexibility on both sides.”
The channel said, “Even without Sinwar, Hamas continues to insist on its demand to end the war and complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while demanding that Israel continue the war and maintain its presence on the Philadelphia Road.”
Netanyahu refuses
On the other hand, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an Egyptian initiative for a short-term truce with Hamas.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced, in a joint press conference held with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, yesterday, Sunday, that his country had put forward an initiative for a temporary ceasefire, starting with two days, then 10 days, interspersed with negotiations to exchange a number of prisoners from both sides.
Despite the support of the majority of Israeli ministers for the Egyptian proposal, Israel decided to reject it due to the opposition of Netanyahu, who stressed that negotiations take place only under fire, according to what the Hebrew Channel 12 reported on its website.
With American support, since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza that left more than 143,500 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the… The worst humanitarian disasters in the world.