Hamas, Israel entrench Gaza truce positions – Bd24live

2

Efforts aimed toward securing an elusive truce in trade for hostages held in Gaza had been as a result of resume Monday as disagreement between Israel and Hamas over calls for to finish the seven-month warfare intensified.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Sunday that “surrendering” to a requirement to finish the warfare would quantity to defeat, whereas Qatar-based Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Netanyahu of sabotaging the talks.

Negotiations had been as a result of proceed Monday in Qatar, the place CIA director Invoice Burns was anticipated for “emergency” talks on mediation efforts with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a supply with data of the discussions instructed AFP.

A Hamas official mentioned Sunday the group’s delegation for Gaza truce talks was headed to Doha for “consultations” after the final spherical of talks in Cairo failed to provide a breakthrough.

Hamas negotiators are then due again in Cairo on Tuesday, mentioned Al-Qahera Information, a website linked to Egyptian intelligence companies.

In Rafah in southern Gaza, the place about 1.2 million Palestinians have sought shelter, medics and first responders mentioned 16 individuals had been killed Sunday in Israeli air strikes, hours after Hamas rockets had killed three Israeli troopers.

Residents of the southern Gaza metropolis instructed AFP they feared an upsurge in violence if truce talks collapse.

Naja Shaat, 59, mentioned she was “extraordinarily joyful” when she thought a ceasefire was imminent, “however at the moment… we’re on pins and needles”.

Gaza’s bloodiest-ever warfare started following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 assault on Israel that resulted within the deaths of greater than 1,170 individuals, largely civilians, in accordance with an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Hamas additionally seized some 250 hostages.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed no less than 34,683 individuals in Gaza, largely ladies and kids, in accordance with the Hamas-run territory’s well being ministry.

– ‘Misplaced hope’ –

The Palestinian civilian toll has strained ties between Israel and its most important army provider and ally the USA.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Friday that “the one factor standing between the individuals of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas”.

Negotiators met in Cairo Sunday with out an Israeli delegation current.

Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators had proposed a 40-day pause within the preventing and an trade of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, in accordance with particulars launched by Britain.

Any truce reached could be the primary since a week-long November ceasefire noticed a hostage-prisoner swap.

Netanyahu, whose coalition contains ultra-nationalist events, faces common protests demanding a deal to carry the hostages residence.

Demonstrators, some carrying posters with photos of the captives, gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday, as Israel marked nationwide Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In keeping with an announcement from Netanyahu’s workplace, he instructed his cupboard Israel wouldn’t let Hamas “take management of Gaza once more, rebuild their army infrastructure and return to threaten the residents of Israel”.

“Israel won’t comply with Hamas’s calls for, which imply give up, and can proceed the preventing till all its objectives are achieved,” he added.

Haniyeh mentioned Netanyahu wished to “invent fixed justifications for the continuation of aggression, increasing the circle of battle, and sabotaging efforts made by way of varied mediators and events”.

– ‘Count on an escalation’ –

Earlier negotiation efforts had stalled partly due to Hamas’s demand for an enduring ceasefire and Netanyahu’s vows to crush its remaining fighters in Rafah.

Hamas in an announcement insisted it maintained a “constructive and accountable method” and mentioned it was decided to succeed in an settlement.

The assertion talked about that Hamas’s key calls for embody “a whole finish” to the preventing, Israeli withdrawal “from the whole Gaza Strip, the facilitation of the return of displaced individuals, the intensification of aid efforts”, reconstruction efforts and a prisoner-hostage trade deal.

Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah no matter any truce, and regardless of issues from the USA, different nations and support teams.

At the beginning of the warfare, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned his nation would impose a “full siege” blocking meals, water and different provides.

Steady appeals for better entry have, in accordance with the UN, led to some enhancements not too long ago.

Israel in December reopened the southern Kerem Shalom border crossing for support, however on Sunday the military mentioned it was focused with projectiles and “closed to the passage of humanitarian support vans”.

Hamas’s armed wing claimed the rocket hearth, saying Hamas had focused troops.

The military later introduced three troopers had been killed within the assault and 12 had been wounded, three significantly.

An AFP correspondent and witnesses reported shelling and gunfire in Gaza Metropolis Sunday, and helicopter hearth in central and southern Gaza. The Israeli army later mentioned it struck a Hamas “command and management place” in central Gaza.

Arwa Saqr, displaced from the southern metropolis of Khan Yunis, mentioned she has “misplaced hope that the negotiations will succeed”.

In Rafah, the place the military mentioned the rockets had been launched from, 35-year-old Mohammed Al-Najjar mentioned: “I anticipate an escalation.”

– Al Jazeera –

Netanyahu on Sunday additionally introduced a authorities determination to shut operations in Israel of Qatar-based information channel Al Jazeera, which has broadcast round the clock protection of the battle.

It went off-air a short while later.

The community condemned Israel’s determination as a “felony act”, and mentioned it could take authorized motion.

The top of the UN company for Palestinian refugees, which has been central to humanitarian operations in Gaza through the warfare, mentioned Sunday that Israeli authorities had barred him from coming into Gaza for a second time because the warfare started.

In a put up on X, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini additionally known as for an “unbiased investigation” into the rockets fired at Kerem Shalom. Israel estimates 128 hostages kidnapped on October 7 stay in Gaza, together with 35 who the army says are lifeless.

On Sunday the Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board appealed to Netanyahu, telling him in an announcement to “disregard all political stress”, with some far-right members of the federal government opposing a truce and calling for preventing to proceed.