12/28/2024–|Last updated: 12/28/202410:17 PM (Mecca time)
Today, Saturday, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani discussed with the delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip and ways to push them forward.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, in a statement, that the Qatari Prime Minister received in Doha the movement’s delegation for ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, headed by Khalil Al-Hayya.
The ministry added that during the interview, the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza were reviewed, and ways to push them forward were discussed to ensure reaching a clear and comprehensive agreement that puts an end to the ongoing war in the Strip.
On the other hand, Channel 12 quoted Israeli sources as saying that Tel Aviv is working on developing a mini-exchange deal before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The sources indicated that the mini-deal does not include ending the war on Gaza.
The channel quoted participants in the negotiations as saying that Hamas “may agree to a limited deal to release hostages as a symbolic step before Trump’s inauguration.”
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that what is being talked about and circulated about the possibility of a mini-deal before Trump’s inauguration is a complete lie.
Last Wednesday, Hamas accused Israel of setting new issues and conditions related to the withdrawal from Gaza, the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which postponed reaching an agreement that was available.
Hamas confirmed, through a statement at the time, that this was happening despite the fact that the negotiations in Doha were proceeding seriously, and despite it showing responsibility and flexibility to make them successful.
However, Netanyahu’s office claimed, in a statement, that the Palestinian movement was creating “new obstacles” to reaching a deal.
Negotiations faltered
More than once, the prisoner exchange negotiations conducted with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation faltered as a result of Netanyahu’s insistence on continuing control over the Philadelphia border axis between Gaza and Egypt, and the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of Palestinian faction fighters to northern Gaza by searching the returnees through the Netzarim corridor in the middle of the Strip.
For its part, Hamas insists on a complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and a complete cessation of the war, in order to accept any agreement.
Tel Aviv holds more than 10,300 Palestinians in its prisons, while it estimates there are 100 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of its prisoners in random Israeli raids.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza that left more than 153,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. .
