Politics

Israel-Hamas: Ceasefire agreement ever closer

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuannounced Saturday evening the decision to send a high-level delegation to Qatar to contribute to efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement with the terrorist group. The delegation, which left on Saturday evening, includes the head of the Mossad, David Barneathe director of the Shin Bet, Ron Bar, retired major general Nitzan Alonan expert in hostage management for the IDF, and Netanyahu’s political advisor, Ophir Falk. The decision was made following an assessment conducted by Netanyahu on the situation of the ongoing hostage talks. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Defence, Israel Katzkey Israeli security officials, as well as officials from the Biden administration and the new administration. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met yesterday in Jerusalem Steve Witkoffcorrespondent of Donald Trump for the Middle East. The meeting comes after Witkoff held discussions in Doha on Friday with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thanito be updated on ongoing negotiations. As we write Steve WitkoffUS President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, is expected back in Qatar to continue negotiations on the release of the hostages, after a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was reported by a source close to the dossier, cited by Times of Israel. Witkoff will be accompanied by the Israeli delegation.

According to Israeli media sources, Witkoff reiterated to Netanyahu, who was not yet invited to the January 20 ceremony in Washington, that Trump intends to reach a ceasefire and a hostage agreement by the start of his presidential term. During the meeting, the American envoy stressed the need for flexibility on both sides to facilitate reaching an agreement. This was reported by the Israeli news channel 12. As reported by Israel Hayomat the end of the meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, a conference call was organized with Brett McGurkWhite House envoy for the Middle East and head of the US delegation to Qatar. Hamas sources said on Saturday that an agreement would be reached, pending final approval from Netanyahu. However, no one confirmed this.

The news Channel 13 reports that Netanyahu has decided to send top Israeli negotiators to talks in Qatar, signaling “general but cautious progress” in the negotiations. However, a senior Israeli official said Hamas had not yet provided a full list of living hostages. According to a Hamas source quoted by the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeedthe proposed deal has been substantially finalized, but the mediators are awaiting Netanyahu’s official approval to proceed with the announcement. At the moment, there has been no independent confirmation of this claim. The newspaper also reported that under the agreement, Israel will not fully withdraw from the Philadelphia corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border before the last day of the final phase of the agreement, after gradually withdrawing its forces in the previous stages. The source said Hamas agreed to postpone several unresolved points of contention with Israel to a later stage of the agreement, provided that subsequent stages are implemented without delay and as required. Furthermore, the source said that “talks are now at the closest point (so far) to completing the agreement,” adding that Hamas and the mediators expected a response from Israel on Saturday. Israel has previously maintained that it would not accept any ceasefire that would force it to end the war altogether, as the three-phase agreement apparently requires. The Qatari report further adds that, if Israel accepted the deal, the mediating countries would hold a press conference to announce the details, timetable and start date of the deal. The director of the CIA William Burns assessed the ongoing negotiations in Doha as “quite serious”, while the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, John Kirbysaid he believed a hostage deal was possible before January 20. Finally, as we write Kadora Fareshead of the Palestinian Prisoners Committee, issued a rare statement on the ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal. According to Fares, the first phase of the deal includes the release of 25 Israeli hostages in exchange for approximately 1,250 Palestinian prisoners, including 48 rearrested after the Shalit deal, 200 life sentences and other prisoners, including women, children and detainees. In an interview with the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, Fares suggested that the total number of released Palestinian prisoners could exceed 3,000, as Israel requested the inclusion of additional hostages, including wounded soldiers. For the most dangerous prisoners, deportation to Qatar and Egypt is hypothesized.

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