WAR & PEACE Israel & Hamas ‘close to agreeing six-week Gaza ceasefire in just 24 hours’ after at least 30,000 killed in all-out war
HAMAS has said a temporary ceasefire could be achieved within "24 to 48 hours" if Israel gets on board with its demands.
The proposed truce deal, which is understood to last six weeks, could see a pause in fighting and the release of hostages during the holy month of Ramadan.
Hamas' deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayyas, has today reached Cairo to attend the truce deal talks, which began yesterday in Doha, Qatar.
A senior US official has said the path to a ceasefire is "straightforward" as two sides prepare to resume the talks, Sky News reports.
"The path to a ceasefire right now literally at this hour is
straightforward. And there's a deal on the table.
There's a framework deal. The Israelis have more or less accepted it."
"The onus right now is on Hamas."
It comes after the terror group received a draft proposal from Gaza peace talks in Paris, a senior source close to the discussions said on Tuesday.
Negotiators from the US, Egypt, and Qatar drafted the proposal that includes Hamas freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week ceasefire.
Israel is said to have provisionally accepted the deal which would begin with the release of wounded, elderly and female hostages.
It is understood that Hamas has studied the proposal in the past week and could come to an agreement with Israel today.
But the deal could still fall apart as Hamas is yet to announce its demands, it is being feared.
Israel-Hamas proposed truce deal explained
HAMAS has received a draft proposal from Paris for a pause in fighting and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
A source close to the truce talks told Reuters the first stage of the proposed deal would last 40 days, with other terms to include:
- Prisoner-hostage exchange at a ratio of 10 to one
- Both parties stop their military operations completely
- Aerial reconnaissance operations over Gaza stop for eight hours a day
- All 40 Israeli hostages released in exchange for 400 Palestinian prisoners
- Gradual return of all displaced civilians, except men of military service age, to the northern Gaza Strip
- After commencing the first phase, Israel repositions its forces away from densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip
- Commitment to bring in 500 trucks per day of humanitarian aid
- Commitment to providing 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans
- Allow the rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries in Gaza, including allowing the entry of equipment and providing fuel for these purposes
- Israel agrees to the entry of heavy machinery and equipment to remove rubble and assist with other humanitarian purposes
- Israel provides quantities of fuel shipments for humanitarian purposes that increase over time. Hamas pledges not to use the machines and equipment to threaten Israel
- It is understood that the arrangements agreed in the first phase will not apply to the second phase, which will be subject to later and separate negotiations
US President Joe Biden said Israel is willing to halt its military activities in Gaza for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan - but only if a deal is reached to release the hostages still held by militants.
He raised hopes a temporary ceasefire to end the bloodbath in Gaza could be possible "by next Monday".
During the temporary pause, negotiations over the release of the remaining hostages held captive by militants would continue.
"My national security adviser tells me that we’re close," Biden told journalists on Monday.
"We’re close. We’re not done yet.
"My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire."
He said in an interview: "Ramadan’s coming up and there has been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, to give us time to get all the hostages out."
The president's appearance came hours before details of the draft proposal were reported by Reuters.
The path to a ceasefire right now literally at this hour is straightforward. And there's a deal on the table
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has sparked global concern as Israel's allies warned it must protect civilians in its ongoing battle against Hamas.
Just a few days ago, dozens of Palestinians died after being crushed by humanitarian aid trucks entering northern Gaza.
Israel Defence Forces said the residents surrounded the trucks and looted supplies before they were run over.
But Gaza health authorities claimed the victims were shot dead by Israeli forces as they waited for an aid delivery on Thursday.
Officials estimate at least 104 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the tragedy near Gaza City.
The IDF's chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said troops started firing warning shots because they felt endangered.
He said: "We didn't open fire on those seeking aid. Contrary to the accusations, we didn't open fire on a humanitarian aid convoy, not from the air and not from land.
"We secured it so it could reach northern Gaza."
An Israeli government spokesperson initially said victims died when aid trucks driven by Palestinians ploughed into swarming crowds.
However, an Israeli military official later alleged the victims died in two separate incidents as a convoy of trucks passed into northern Gaza from the south using the main coastal road.
The second incident was said to have taken place hundreds of yards north of the stampede near the north-south checkpoint crossing.
After the lorries had passed on the coastal road, people "posing a threat" allegedly approached Israeli forces - which then opened fire.
The White House is also looking into reports of Israeli fire and described what unfolded today as a "serious incident".
A White House National Security Council spokesman said: "We mourn the loss of innocent life and recognise the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where innocent Palestinians are just trying to feed their families.
"This underscores the importance of expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through a potential temporary ceasefire."
Soon after the honour incident, Washington announced it would send essential aid to war-torn Gaza, which could be on the brink of deadly famine as warned by the United Nations.
And yesterday, three American C-130J Super Hercules cargo planes air-dropped 38,000 meals and other humanitarian aid into the war-torn land.
WAR IN GAZA
Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by the terror group on southern Israel on October 7, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.
A month-long pause in fighting has been mooted amid growing fears that only a few dozen hostages may be left to save.
At least 30 of the remaining 130 hostages have been confirmed dead but many more may have perished in appalling conditions in Hamas’ terror tunnel network.
Netanyahu said his forces would press on and destroy Hamas’ remaining battalions in the last stronghold Rafah once the pause in fighting ends.
Some 30,000 Palestinians have died since the conflict began - according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants.
Israel's military last week claimed to have destroyed a massive underground tunnel complex that was being used by Hamas.
The tunnel was said to have stretched six miles between the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Cancer Hospital and Israa University.
Chief Operations Officer of the Nahal Brigade combat team, identified only as Major Ron, explained: "During our raids, we discovered an 18-metre-deep tunnel under the hospital with two exits both in the southern and northern parts of the hospital."
He continued: "Throughout the entire war, we’ve witnessed Hamas using civilian infrastructure, ie, hospitals, kindergartens, schools and more, to dig tunnels and dispose of weapons, which we also found inside the Turkish hospital."
The Israel Defence Forces said the tunnel was used by Hamas' Zeitoun battalion and other brigades to move around the Strip, and contained subterranean rooms with toilets, storage areas, and the bodies of Palestinian operatives who died in raids by Israeli troops.
But Dr Subhi Skeik, the director of the Turkish hospital, told The Times that the hospital had nothing to do with Hamas activity.
No comments: