Mediators suggest gaps could ‘narrow’ in ceasefire talks
At the moment, you still have a technical team from Israel in Doha trying to work through these details before another meeting in Cairo before the end of next week.
In the statement released last night after these two days of ceasefire talks, the mediators, the US, Qatar and Egypt, all said that they believe these gaps could be narrowed, hopefully, within the coming week.
Before the talks started in Doha, many diplomats close to the talks expressed reservations and scepticism about how exactly it [a deal] could be accomplished. That’s because every iteration of the talks in the last few months has not led anywhere.
But if you look at the language in the statement released about this proposal presented by the US and supported by Egypt and presented to Israel and Hamas, the mediators felt confident that enough had been done and that perhaps these gaps could be narrowed even more in the days ahead.
This is the final chance to effect a ceasefire deal before a wider regional war could occur, and everybody wants to prevent that.
This was high-stakes diplomacy. It was done at a crucial time, and right now, indications are that the mediated countries believe that they could potentially narrow these gaps even further within the coming week and maybe finally reach some kind of ceasefire.
Hamas official dismisses Biden ceasefire optimism as ‘illusion’: Report
A senior Hamas official has dismissed Biden’s optimism after the American leader said a Gaza ceasefire was closer after talks in Doha.
“To say that we are getting close to a deal is an illusion,” Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement sent to AFP. “We are not facing a deal or real negotiations, but rather the imposing of American diktats.”
Biden wants a ceasefire but Netanyahu is ‘trying to extend the conflict’
Sultan Barakat, professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, says mediators involved in the ongoing truce talks claim that they were “bridging” the gaps in the ceasefire proposal, which indicates that neither side has accepted its original framework.
He told Al Jazeera that the most important aspect of the current talks is the potential to “defuse the retaliation from Iran” after the assassination last month of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in return for a ceasefire in Gaza.
An added aspect that would be of concern for Israel is the potential that captives in Gaza may be killed not just by their own bombing campaigns but by Hamas’s guards, as occurred earlier in the week.
US President Joe Biden wants a ceasefire to allow Kamala Harris to “regain some of the Muslim and Arab votes”.
In contrast, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to continue the war, he said, adding that his strategy has to be to ramp up attacks on Gaza every time there are truce talks, making it very difficult for Palestinians “even to accept to consider an end to this war”.
French foreign minister calls on all parties to accept Gaza ceasefire deal
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne has held talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, saying that all parties must “quickly implement” a ceasefire agreement.
“I particularly welcome the colossal work carried out yesterday and the day before in Doha. It is now important that the parties to the conflict welcome the proposals that have been made to them and accept, then quickly implement, a ceasefire agreement,” Sejourne said.
Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha paused on Friday with negotiators set to meet again next week to reach an agreement to end the Israeli war on Gaza and free remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
In a joint statement, the US, Qatar and Egypt said Washington had presented a new proposal that built on points of agreement over the past week, closing gaps in a way that could allow rapid implementation of a deal.
