Mediators step up ceasefire efforts as Israel kills 16 in Gaza

2024-12-18 11:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United States, along with Arab mediators, are trying Wednesday to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by Washington and the European Union — to end the 14-month war in the Gaza Strip, where doctors have said Israeli strikes killed at least 16 Palestinians overnight.

On Tuesday, sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said a deal could be signed in the coming days for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Reuters reports.

Doctors said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in a house in the northern town of Beit Lahija, where military forces have been operating since October, while six people were killed in other airstrikes in Gaza City, Nuseirat camp in the central areas. , and in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

The Israeli army has not commented on the attacks.

The US administration, and mediators from Egypt and Qatar, have made intensive efforts in recent days to achieve progress in talks before US President Joe Biden leaves office next month.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian official close to the negotiations said mediators had narrowed differences on most points of the deal, but added that Israel had come up with terms that Hamas rejected. He refused to give details.

US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns will hold talks in Doha on Wednesday with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to bridge remaining differences between Israel and Hamas, other sources said. with knowledge about negotiations. The CIA declined to comment.

Israeli negotiators went to Doha on Tuesday to try to narrow differences between Israel and Hamas over a deal that Biden put forward in May.

Talks have been held repeatedly throughout the year, but all have failed, as Israel has insisted on maintaining a military presence in Gaza, while Hamas has refused to release the hostages until Israeli troops withdraw.

The war in Gaza, sparked by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 people, has shaken the Middle East and left Israel isolated in the international scene.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the population of 2.3 million and turned much of the enclave into ruins./ REL