The US administration has declared these negotiations to be “last chance.” The aim of the meeting in Doha, Qatar, on August 15 and 16 between the Israeli delegation and the American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, was not only to relaunch talks on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip after 10 months of war. It is now also to prevent a regional confrontation, by convincing Iran and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah organization to abandon their promised retaliation against Israel, following the targeted assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah top commander Fouad Shukur in Tehran and Beirut on July 31.
Two days of talks ended on Friday with a declaration from mediators expressing cautious optimism. Washington had presented a new proposal for an agreement, aimed at “bridging gaps” remaining for implementation of a truce between Israel and Hamas. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been” to an agreement, said US President Joe Biden. “We’re not there,” he acknowledged, but said a compromise was “much closer than it was three days ago.”
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” confirmed an American source close to the negotiations, who stated that the new proposal was based on the Biden plan, “with a few clarifications.” Presented on May 31, this plan provides for an initial six-week truce, accompanied by Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of some of the 115 hostages still held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The White House is hoping to conclude an agreement before the end of next week. A meeting has been scheduled in Cairo, Egypt, to continue discussions, particularly of a technical nature, with the aim of reaching a final agreement. Hamas, which has been kept informed of the progress of discussions, has already responded that the American proposal contains “new conditions” from Israel which it rejects.
“To say that we are approaching a truce agreement is an illusion,” said Sami Abou Zouhri, a senior Hamas official, in a statement to French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, August 17, denouncing the “imposition of American diktats.”
Hamas under enormous pressure
Among the stumbling blocks, one of its officials cited the continued presence of Israeli troops along Gaza’s border with Egypt, on the Philadelphia Route. Benjamin Netanyahu introduced this requirement at the end of July, in order to prevent arms smuggling with Egypt, although the Israeli military itself claims that their presence is no longer necessary.
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