Qatari officials are “cautiously optimistic” that Israel and Hamas can reach a new cease-fire in the war in Gaza and the release of more hostages held by the militants, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.
Majed al-Ansari offered the favorable assessment after talks in Doha that included Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea. But Ansari said it was “too early to announce any successes.”
A six-week truce is being considered. It would be only the second in more than five months of fighting, with the first being a weeklong cease-fire in November. A hiatus in the conflict could lead to the release of about 40 of the remaining 100 or so hostages held by Hamas in exchange for dozens of Palestinians jailed by Israel. It could also have Israel allowing more food and humanitarian aid into Gaza.
One Hamas official said the proposed pact calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from “all cities and populated areas.” But the details have yet to be resolved, and negotiations could take days or a couple weeks, officials said. The negotiations have already extended for weeks without resolution.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed in recent days to push ahead with a planned attack on Rafah, a town near the Gaza-Egypt border, to root out more Hamas militants.
At the same, the Israeli leader has agreed, at U.S. President Joe Biden’s request, to send a delegation to Washington early next week to discuss how Israel might be able to achieve its military aims without a Rafah invasion while ensuring the safety of more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the region.
The war started October 7 with a shock Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, Gaza health officials say. The Israeli military says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters.
Push by the United States
The Unted States is continuing its efforts to push Israel and Hamas toward a cease-fire.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week for talks focused on a halt in fighting, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and planning for a postwar Gaza.
Speaking Tuesday during a visit to the Philippines, Blinken told reporters that arrangements must be in place for governance, security, humanitarian assistance and the redevelopment of Gaza.
Blinken said that the United States has impressed upon Israel the imperative of having a plan and that hope remains for the conflict to end as soon as possible.
Much of Gaza’s infrastructure and homes have been leveled as Israel pursued its campaign to eliminate any Hamas control in Gaza.
Blinken described what he called the “horrific humanitarian situation” in Gaza, citing United Nations reports that the entire population needs humanitarian aid.
“According to the most respected measure of these things, 100% of the population of Gaza is at severe level of acute food insecurity,” Blinken said. “That’s the first time an entire population has been so classified.”
Blinken expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure another attack like the one in October does not happen again. But he also said it is “absolutely incumbent on Israel” to prioritize protecting civilians and providing for those who are desperately in need of humanitarian aid.
Blinken blamed Hamas for the situation in Gaza, saying the terror group initiated the attack on Israel and could have stopped the war if it had put down its arms, not hidden behind civilians and released the hostages it is still holding.
At the White House
Biden spoke Monday with Netanyahu for the first time in more than a month, voicing new concerns about Israel’s conduct of the war and its plan to attack Rafah.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden told the Israeli leader in a phone call, “We share the goal of defeating Hamas. We just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen."
Sullivan called Netanyahu’s plan for a ground offensive “smashing into” Rafah a “mistake,” even as vast numbers of Palestinians shelter in the region, many on orders from the Israeli military to abandon their homes in the northern reaches of Gaza.
Israel has promised to move the Palestinians in Rafah for their safety before any attack on the region but has given no public indication of where they would go.
Some material in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
