Hamas says it will not enter into negotiations over prisoner releases until Israel ends its war on Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country was ready to reach a new temporary truce with Hamas in Gaza to secure the release of more prisoners held by the Palestinian group.
“Israel is ready for a new humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian assistance to enable the release of the hostages,” Herzog told a gathering of ambassadors on Tuesday.
The comments come amid growing international pressure on Israel to suspend its attack on Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.
A previous deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, led to a week-long truce in late November during which Hamas released 86 women and children it was detaining in exchange for 240 women and Palestinian teenagers detained in Israeli prisons. Hamas also released 24 foreign nationals during the break in fighting.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also the Gulf state’s foreign minister, Mossad Director David Barnea and CIA Director Bill Burns met in Poland on Monday to discuss a new potential deal to secure the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians. in Israeli prisons and a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
“The discussions have been positive, with negotiators exploring and discussing different proposals with the aim of moving the negotiations forward,” a source briefed on the diplomatic efforts told Reuters news agency. “However, an agreement is not expected immediately.”
Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday that it rejected any form of negotiation over prisoner exchanges “as part of Israel’s continuing genocidal war.”
The Palestinian group said it was open to any initiative that contributes to “ending the aggression” and opening border crossings “to provide aid and relief to the Palestinian people.”
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Bernard Smith said statements from Herzog and Hamas on Tuesday indicate some progress toward a possible truce.
“The question will be whether it is just that, a pause – a humanitarian pause – as the Israelis would say, or a total ceasefire,” Smith said, speaking from Tel Aviv.
The war has razed large parts of northern Gaza and pushed most of the population to the southern part of the besieged territory, where many are in crowded shelters and tent camps. Some 1.9 million Palestinians – around 90 percent of Gaza’s population – have fled their homes.
Since then, at least 19,667 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli attack on Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel launched the assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters from the territory stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 others hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel faces growing international pressure to scale back its offensive as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to soar.
France, Britain and Germany added their voices to calls for a ceasefire on Sunday, while US President Joe Biden last week called the bombings “indiscriminate”.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is expected to vote on a resolution later on Tuesday calling for an end to fighting in Gaza.
Earlier, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the war in Gaza was a “moral failure” of the international community, calling on Israel and Hamas to reach a new truce to end the fighting.
“I called it a moral failure because every day this continues is another day the international community has failed to put an end to such high levels of suffering and this will impact generations not only in Gaza,” said Mirjana, president of the ICRC. Spoljaric told reporters in Geneva after his trips to the Gaza Strip and Israel.