While fighting still rages in Gaza and the health situation of Gazans approaches “the breaking point”, according to NGOs, peace talks are continuing, without much progress for the moment.
Israel’s war cabinet approved Saturday evening the continuation of peace talks and will send a new delegation to Qatar. According to the media, this mission will however a limited mandate and will focus on the technical aspects of a possible agreement. The visit should take place this week.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli delegation returned from Paris, where it held talks with representatives of Egypt, Qatar and the United States. The media reports that a starting point for a possible exchange of prisoners was agreed. The members of the delegation stated that Hamas (through its proxies) showed flexibility on many points: among other things, Hamas gave up demanding the complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip to demand the withdrawal from the centers of the cities.
Regardless, this is all in the preliminary stages and is not confirmed or commented on at the official level in Israel.
The Israeli government will meet “in the coming days”according to Benjamin Netanyahu to vote the plan of the operation in Rafahincluding details of the evacuation of civilians.
Meanwhile, other areas of the Gaza Strip will be “revisited” by IDF soldiers who, after obtaining intelligence data “updated and improved”will lead an in-depth search for hostages and Hamas leaders and infrastructure : this is what Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi declared this Saturday.
Israeli government projects still face obstacles strong opposition both outside and inside the country. On Saturday, the traditional day of anti-government demonstrations, in Tel Aviv, protests were marked by scenes of violence when mounted police attempted to disperse the crowd using water cannons.