Both sides of the conflict are mutually accused of obstructing negotiations started on July 6 in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States
At least 31 Palestinians died on Sunday (13) in new Israeli attacks, the Civil Defense of the Coastal Enclave said, while indirect negotiations enter a week without a truce agreement. Both sides of the conflict are mutually accused of obstructing negotiations started on July 6 in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and. The goal is to reach a truce that marks a solution for over 21 months of conflict and destruction.
Another Israeli attack, this time involving a drone, would have reached a drinking water distribution point in an area for displaced people near the noseirat refugee camp, killing ten people, including eight children. “We were awakened by the crash of two great explosions. We saw our neighbor, Abu Yihad al-Arbid, and his children under the rubble of his bombarded house,” said Khaled Rayan, a resident of Nusast. “What I say to all negotiators is that what is happening to us has never happened in the history of humanity (…). Enough,” added Mahmoud al-Shami, another resident of the region.
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic and the vast majority of the Enclave population, which has more than two million inhabitants, was forced to move more than once. On Saturday (12), seven agencies warned in a joint statement that the scarcity of fuel in Gaza has reached “critical levels” and can represent “a new unbearable burden for a population on the verge of inanition.”
The conflict began with a surprise attack by the terrorist group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,219 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians. The Islamists also kidnapped 251 people that day. Forty -nine remain hostage in Gaza, of which 27 were declared killed by the army.
More than 57,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, died in Israeli Army retaliation operations in Gaza, according to Hamas’s Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the UN. Every day, the Civil Defense records dozens of deaths in Israeli bombing.
Difficult negotiations
On Saturday, a Palestinian source near the negotiations indicated that Hamas “completely” rejects the Israeli plan which, according to him, foresees “maintenance of their forces in more than 40% of the Gaza Strip”. Doha negotiations face “obstacles and difficulties,” the source told AFP, emphasizing the “insistence of Israel” in this plan.
According to the source, Israel’s goal is to “crowd hundreds of thousands of displaced” in the south of the Gaza Strip, “in preparation for a forced displacement of the population to Egypt or other countries”.
In response, an Israeli authority accused Hamas on Saturday night of refusing to “make concessions” and lock “a psychological war with the aim of sabotaging negotiations.”
A second Palestinian source, however, spoke of “advances” regarding the entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza and the exchange of hostages to Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “Israel has shown his willingness to be flexible in negotiations,” said Israeli authority on Saturday afternoon. The local media reported that another plan for the removal of Israeli troops could be presented in Doha on Sunday.
In recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed that with this war, his country seeks to release hostages in Gaza, destroy Hamas’s military and government capabilities and expel the Palestinian Islamist movement of the Enclave.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
