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French top diplomat says Gaza ceasefire talks progressing
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told Reuters that negotiations on a ceasefire are progressing, but he urged caution.
“Things are moving forward but you always have to be careful in these discussions and negotiations,” Sejourne said after arriving in Riyadh from Lebanon, where he held talks on Sunday amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic and we need a ceasefire,” he added.
What’s the focus of today’s truce talks?
An Israeli delegation may join the Hamas representatives in Cairo, although there won’t be a face-to-face meeting.
The Egyptians are keen to get this moving. They have a vested interest because of the geographic position of Rafah on their border. So they are also putting pressure on Hamas, along with the Qataris, to get some form of deal.
What we understand is on the table at the moment is that Hamas would release 33 captives. These fall under the humanitarian branch. So you have women, the sick, the elderly and those over 50.
Israel would release Palestinian prisoners, some of those, according to the Israeli media, “with blood on their hands”. So you are talking about senior Palestinian prisoners.
Also, there is some movement of Palestinians in Gaza to the north and a gradual, small withdrawal of Israeli troops from certain positions inside Gaza.
And then, after all that happens, you are going to have ongoing negotiations about a full cessation of hostilities, an end to the war, which is something that Israel says it is not going to do until its objectives have been achieved.
Blinken says Israel has made ‘measurable progress’ on Gaza humanitarian situation
But the US secretary of state also has urged Israel to do more.
Speaking in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at the opening of a US-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, Blinken said the most effective way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Strip was to achieve a ceasefire.
While Israel has allowed more aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip amid great international pressure, the deliveries still fall far short of what the UN says is the minimum required to address the dire situation in the besieged territory.
The 7 day average went up to 202 from 189, a 7% increase.... Yeah it's 'measurable' all right.
Blinken urged Israel to do more in terms of allowing more humanitarian aid into the Strip while noting some progress.
He also told Gulf Arab allies that Iran’s confrontation with Israel showed the need for greater defence integration. “This attack highlights the acute and growing threat from Iran but also the imperative that we work together on integrated defence,” he said.
- There must be a postwar plan for Gaza which looks at security, governance and humanitarian reconstructions.
- Without a real political horizon for Palestinians, it is “going to be harder, if not impossible”, to have a coherent plan for Gaza.
- The region has two paths forward, one where it is integrated, where ties between Israel and its neighbouring countries are normalised and Palestinians have their own state or a second one marred by endless violence and destruction.
- The biggest rebuke to both Hamas and Iran would be Israel having normal ties with countries in the region and the realisation of a Palestinian state.
The US secretary of state also has spoken about the US-brokered normalisation process between Saudi Arabia and Israel. He stressed that American and Saudi officials have done “intense work in the past months” on the matter.
Qatar’s PM says region must be spared from war
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has called for a major push to stop any further military escalation by Israel during his address at the World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the foreign minister, stressed the need to resolve all conflicts peacefully and spare the region from the dangers of war.
Blinken says US has ‘not yet seen’ Rafah invasion plan that protects civilians
The top US diplomat has renewed Washington’s opposition to an Israeli offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city ahead of his trip to Israel. “We have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected,” Blinken said at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
