- Blinken discusses Gaza ceasefire efforts
- Hamas proposes three-stage strategy
- Significant gaps in negotiations remain
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that “a lot” of work remains to secure an agreement on a captive-prisoner exchange and an extended ceasefire in Israel’s assault on Gaza, following Hamas’s counterproposal to a truce proposal.
“There is still much work to be done, but we are extremely focused on completing it and, hopefully, resuming the release of hostages that was interrupted,” Blinken told reporters at the beginning of a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Prior to that, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and deliberated on a Hamas counterproposal to a truce plan formulated by Israeli and American intelligence commanders and delivered to the Palestinian organisation by Qatari and Egyptian mediators last week.
Hamas delineated an elaborate three-stage strategy that was to transpire throughout a period of four and a half months. The strategy calls for the liberation of every captive in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinians held captive by Israel, including senior combatants, and the cessation of hostilities.
Later on Wednesday, Netanyahu assured that Israel would continue its military assault on Gaza until “absolute victory” and appeared to reject the Hamas proposal.
Renewed Negotiations Amid Gaza Conflict
The Israeli prime minister declared, “We are approaching an absolute victory” and added that the operation would last months rather than years. “No other solution exists.”
Later, in Ramallah, Blinken conferred with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A representative of Egypt informed AFP that “a new round of negotiations” to achieve “calm in the Gaza Strip,” which is currently in its fifth month of conflict, would commence in Cairo on Thursday.
According to an informed Hamas source, the Palestinian organisation had consented to the negotiations, which aim to achieve “a cessation of hostilities, a resolution to the conflict, and an exchange of prisoners.”
Gaza has experienced a loss of life exceeding 27,580 since October 7, when Israel initiated its incursion into the territory in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel.
A minimum of 1,139 individuals lost their lives in the Hamas assault.
By launching an invasion from the ground and relentlessly bombarding Gaza, Israel has razed a significant portion of the territory to the ground and displaced over eighty percent of its population.
Gaps persist
Blinken, who has been engaging in intensive shuttle diplomacy since the beginning of the conflict, traversed the Middle East on Tuesday for the fifth time and met with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the hostage negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Significant divisions persist between the two factions: Israel, in the past, maintained that it would not withdraw its forces from Gaza or end the conflict until Hamas was completely eradicated.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations stated that the Hamas counterproposal did not require an initial guarantee of a permanent armistice, but that an end to the conflict must be agreed upon prior to the release of the final hostages.
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Avi Hyman, a spokesman for the Israeli government, informed reporters: “We have been provided with an update and notified by the Qatari negotiators. We are examining them. The Mossad is examining what was presented to us with great interest.”
An Hamas representative in Beirut, Osama Hamdan, stated that the organisation “submitted its remarks in a manner that guarantees a final and comprehensive cessation of aggression, permits aid and shelter provision for the displaced, ensures reconstruction and the lifting of the blockade against Gaza, and facilitates a prisoner swap.”
Hamas Proposes Three-Phase Ceasefire
As per the offer document obtained by Reuters, all Israeli women held captive, males below the age of 19, and the elderly and ill would be released during the initial 45-day period in return for Palestinian women and children incarcerated in Israeli jails. Israel would evacuate its forces from the inhabited regions of Gaza.
Before beginning implementation of the second phase, “indirect talks over the requirements necessary to end the mutual military operations and return to complete calm” are concluded.
The complete Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza and the release of the remaining male hostages would comprise the second phase. An exchange of the deceased’s remains would occur in the third phase.
An end to the fighting is also necessary to ensure that additional humanitarian aid reaches Gaza and is disseminated to those in need, according to officials.
