An agreement to halt the 14-month war in Gaza and release hostages held in the Palestinian enclave could be signed in the coming days, sources briefed on the negotiations in Cairo said on Tuesday (17).
The US administration, with mediators from Egypt and Qatar, has made progress in talks in recent days before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.
“We believe — and the Israelis have said this — that we are getting closer, and without a doubt, we believe that, but we are also cautious in our optimism,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with Fox News.
“We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to cross the finish line,” he added.
The sources said one, which would halt the fighting and return hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
CIA Director William Burns, a key US negotiator, was due to be in Doha on Wednesday for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on how to bridge the remaining gaps between Israel and Israel. and Hamas, other knowledgeable sources told Reuters.
The CIA declined to comment.
Hamas said in a statement that a deal was possible if Israel stopped setting new conditions. A Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts said negotiations were serious, with discussions ongoing over every word.
Sources briefed on the meeting said Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo, but a statement from Netanyahu’s office reported that he had a meeting on Tuesday with senior military and security officials at Mount Hermon, a
Separately, his spokesman sent a message to Israeli correspondents to say: “The prime minister is not in Cairo.”
Two Egyptian security sources said Netanyahu was not in Cairo “at this time” but that a meeting was underway to work out the remaining points, chief among them a demand from Hamas for guarantees that any immediate agreement would lead to another more comprehensive agreement. late.
Egyptian sources said they were making progress and felt that Tuesday night could be decisive in defining the next steps.
Netanyahu was excused on Tuesday from giving previously scheduled testimony in his He met in Israel on Monday with Adam Boehler, appointed by US President-elect Donald Trump to be his special envoy for hostage issues.
At a news conference in Florida on Monday, Trump reiterated until January 20, the day he takes office.
Trump later said that if no ceasefire agreement is reached by the time he takes office, “it will not be pleasant.” He did not give further details.
U.S. and Israeli officials expressed growing optimism that talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar could produce a deal by the end of the month, but also warned that the talks could fail.
Israeli negotiators were in Doha on Monday seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas in a
There were repeated rounds of negotiations last year, all of which ended in failure, with Israel insisting on maintaining a military presence in Gaza and Hamas refusing to release hostages until troops withdrew.
The war in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, impacted the entire Middle East.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the population of 2.3 million and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since last year, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. Furthermore, the radical group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza.
In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army carries out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
The Israeli population is constantly protesting against Netanyahu, accusing the prime minister of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement so that the hostages can be released.
