Hamas delegation arrives in Egypt to negotiate Gaza ceasefire

A Hamas delegation is scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Monday, where they will respond to Israel's latest offer for a long-sought ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages after nearly seven months of war.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas for months, but a flurry of diplomacy in recent days appears to signal new moves toward a cessation of fighting.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for his seventh visit to the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, and will also visit Israel and neighboring Jordan later this week, the State Department said. Officials revealed.

A senior Hamas official said Sunday that the Palestinian forces have no “major problems” with the latest ceasefire plan.

“As long as there are no new Israeli obstacles, the mood is positive,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Despite global concerns over Palestinian civilians taking refuge in the southern Gaza Strip city, Israel has vowed to go after Hamas battalions in Rafah, but Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the government would not push back against an invasion if a deal is reached. There may be a “temporary suspension,” he said.

The war-besieged Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine, with much of the territory reduced to rubble and raising fears of wider conflict, United Nations and humanitarian officials say.

AFP correspondents, witnesses and rescue workers reported night airstrikes on Rafah, where most of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million residents have taken shelter near the border with Egypt.

More strikes were reported in central Gaza.

Medical officials and the Civil Defense Agency told AFP on Monday that at least 22 people were killed in Rafah, and witnesses told AFP that at least three homes were attacked.

A Hamas official close to the negotiations told AFP that Hamas is “ready to discuss new proposals positively,” adding: “A permanent cease-fire, free return of displaced persons, and an acceptable agreement for (prisoner) exchange. We hope for an agreement that guarantees that.” The goal is to ensure that the siege in Gaza ends.

In Israel, demonstrators have taken to the streets to demand the government release 129 hostages who have remained in Gaza since they were captured by insurgents on October 7, including 34 people announced by the military. He is said to be dead.

～The “irreversible path” to statehood～
The Oct. 7 Hamas attack killed about 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli officials.

At least 34,454 people have been killed in Israeli retaliatory attacks in the Gaza Strip, the majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled region's health ministry.

In November, fighting ceased for a week and 80 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas has previously advocated for a permanent ceasefire, but Israel rejects its terms.

However, news website Axios, citing two Israeli officials, reported that Israel's latest proposal includes an intention to discuss a “sustainable restoration of peace” after the hostages are released.

Axios said it was the first time Israeli leaders had indicated they were ready to discuss ending the war.

Blinken arrived in Riyadh for talks with Arab and European foreign ministers aimed at promoting an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire and expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza as diplomatic efforts ramp up, State Department officials said. .

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Sunday that the international community had failed Gazans.

“The situation in Gaza is clearly a disaster in every respect. It is a humanitarian but complete failure of the existing political system to deal with the crisis,” Crown Prince Faisal said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Riyadh. There is,” he said.

He reiterated that only a “credible and irreversible path to a Palestinian state” can prevent the world from facing “the same situation” again in the future.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has rejected calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

– “Stop” Rafah invasion –
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose West Bank is under Israeli occupation and is partially administered by the Palestinian Authority, appealed to the United States at the WEF meeting to stop Israel's invasion of Rafah, calling it a “historic event.” It will be the biggest disaster.” Palestinian. ”

Israeli Foreign Minister Katz suggested on Saturday that Israel was prepared to halt its invasion of Rafah if Hamas accepted a deal to release the hostages.

“If there is an agreement, we will stop the operation,” he told Israel's Channel 12.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that any ceasefire would only delay Operation Rafah, not stop it.

Israeli War Cabinet Secretary Benny Gantz said in a statement that “Rafah is important in the long-term struggle against Hamas” but that “the government has no right to exist” if it prevents the return of the hostages. .

The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA warned that unless large-scale food aid arrives, “Gaza will breach starvation thresholds within the next six weeks.”

The White House announced Sunday that a U.S.-built jetty aimed at boosting aid to Gaza will be operational within two to three weeks, but it will not replace the land route.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC News that Israel is accepting more trucks in line with “commitments that President Biden has asked us to honor.”

US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and “reviewed ongoing talks to secure the release of the hostages along with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” a White House statement said.

The two leaders “also discussed increasing the provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” the statement said. This includes “preparations” to open a new border to northern Gaza, where conditions remain particularly dire.

Source: guardian.ng