Negotiations for a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip resume next week

2024-08-17 10:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Talks in Doha, Qatar on reaching a Gaza ceasefire broke down on Friday, and negotiators are expected to meet again next week to continue efforts to end fighting between Israel and Hamas and free the remaining hostages, after US President Joe Biden said that "we are still not on the deal."

In a joint statement, the United States, Qatar and Egypt said Washington had presented a new proposal, building on the points of the agreement last week, closing loopholes in a way that could allow a deal to be quickly implemented. .

Mediators will continue to work on the proposal, they said.

"The way is now open to achieve results, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza and reducing regional tensions," their statement reads.

On Thursday, Israel and mediators began the latest round of talks to end the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Hamas was not directly involved in these talks, but was kept informed of their progress.

A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, told the Reuters news agency that Israel had "not respected the principles agreed upon" in previous talks, citing what mediators had told them.

BIDEN: DEAL IS 'MUCH, MUCH CLOSER'

In Washington, President Biden said Friday that reaching a ceasefire agreement was "much, much closer" than before the talks began.

A senior US official said the latest negotiations were more productive than those in recent months and negotiators will meet again next week in Cairo in hopes of finalizing a ceasefire agreement.

"It was the consensus of all the participants over the last 48 hours that there really is a new spirit here to bring the process to a conclusion," the US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"The Israeli team that was here was strengthened. We have made a lot of progress on a number of issues that we have been working on," the official said.

Later, President Biden said in a statement that he had instructed his negotiating team to present the comprehensive proposal reached on Friday, which he said provides the basis for a final ceasefire agreement and the release of the hostages.

President Biden said he had spoken with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who he said expressed strong support for the United States' proposal.

Negotiating teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work and senior officials will meet in Cairo "before the end of the week", he said.

President Biden added that he is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel "to confirm my ironclad support for Israel's security, to continue our intense efforts to complete this agreement, and to underscore that with the comprehensive cease-fire and release agreement hostages now on the horizon, no one in the region should take action to undermine this process."

Israel has insisted that peace will only be possible if Hamas is destroyed, while Hamas has said it would only accept a permanent cease-fire, not a temporary one.

Other difficulties have included the ranking of the points of the agreement, the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners to be released along with the Israeli hostages, control over the Gaza-Egypt border and the free movement of Palestinians within Gaza.

An Israeli official said his Doha delegation was returning home and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet Secretary Blinken on Monday.

On Friday, Israeli forces struck targets in the Gaza Strip and issued evacuation orders from areas it previously designated as civilian safe zones, saying Hamas had used them to launch mortar and rocket attacks on Israel.

As hundreds of families fled these areas, the UN called for a one-week pause in the fighting to undertake a polio vaccination campaign, following reports of the disease spreading among displaced people.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that it has discovered the first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip.

The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting around 1,000 others.

According to Palestinian health authorities, Israel's military operations have destroyed most of Gaza and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Israel says it has eliminated 17,000 Hamas militants, which the United States has declared a terrorist organization./ Voa