Negotiations continue through mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to reach a truce in Gaza with the advent of Ramadan, but today they face difficult obstacles, which have raised fears that they will be disrupted without concluding any agreement, especially since we are close to the month of fasting, which begins on March 10 or 11. What are the obstacles that stand in the way of these discussions to bring the views of Hamas and Israel closer together and sign a new truce in the Gaza Strip?

Published on: 03/07/2024 – 17:38

8 minutes

For weeks, mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been trying to bring their views closer together Hamas and Israel To reach a truce agreement in Gaza with the advent of Ramadan, but these efforts face difficult obstacles, which complicates their mission, especially since we are only a few days away from the month of fasting, and all international humanitarian and human rights institutions warn against A humanitarian disaster occurred in the Gaza Strip due to hunger and diseases.

The French news agency quoted a source, whom it described as an “insider” in the Hamas movement who did not wish to reveal his name, that the negotiated ceasefire project would last for 42 days. The duration of the only truce during this war did not exceed one week in November.

The same source said: “Under the new truce proposal, the movement will release 42 Israeli women and children under the age of 18, along with the sick and elderly. In return, Palestinian prisoners will be released at a ratio of 10 to one,” noting that the agreement being negotiated stipulates On the withdrawal of Israeli forces “from cities and populated areas” in the Gaza Strip.

In this section, he explained, “This will enable the displaced to return to the northern Gaza Strip,” noting that the proposal excludes “the return of males between 18 and 50 years of age.”

The source stated that the draft agreement includes “increasing the number of aid trucks to reach between 400 to 500 trucks of food and medical supplies per day, and introducing fuel in sufficient quantities to operate all hospitals, including those out of service, water stations, and bakeries in all areas of the Strip.”

Difficulties facing negotiations

Today, these negotiations face serious obstacles that could be jeopardized at any moment, due to disagreements over a number of points, the most prominent of which is that Hamas requires “a comprehensive cessation of aggression, war, and the occupation of the Gaza Strip” and “the start of relief, shelter, and reconstruction operations,” according to what a member of the movement’s political leadership said. Bassem Naim, Agence France-Presse.

But Israel rejects this condition, stressing its intention to continue its attack until achieving its goal that it has set since the beginning of the war, which is to “eliminate” this Palestinian movement. At the same time, it also requires that Hamas provide it with a specific list of the names of the hostages who are still being held in the Gaza Strip, unless Naim said in a statement to Agence France-Presse on Monday that the movement “does not know who is alive… and who is dead” of the hostages.

Despite its support for Israel, the American administration is exerting some kind of pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially with the complexity of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the rise of more international voices calling for stopping the war and allowing aid to enter. President Joe Biden considered that there were “no excuses” for Israel to continue preventing the entry of aid trucks.

Although he threw the ball to Hamas, as he considered that “the matter is in its hands now,” the American president expressed at the same time his fear of a “very dangerous” situation in Israel and Jerusalem if Israel and the Palestinian Islamic movement did not reach a ceasefire in Gaza before the month of Ramadan.

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Hamas to accept an “immediate ceasefire.” Blinken considered that “we have an opportunity to achieve an immediate ceasefire that enables hostages to return to their homes and to significantly increase the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the Palestinians who desperately need it, and then set the conditions leading to a permanent solution,” adding, “Hamas must make decisions about… Whether it is prepared to engage in this ceasefire.”

“We will not allow the negotiation process to be open without a horizon.”

In response to American pressure, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan explains the Islamic movement’s position by saying: “We will not allow the path of negotiations to be open without a horizon.” Hamdan stressed that “what the enemy failed to achieve on the battlefield, he will not achieve at the negotiating table,” before He adds: “The security and safety of our people will not be achieved except with a permanent ceasefire, the end of the aggression, and withdrawal from every inch of the Gaza Strip.”

He stressed in a statement, reported by Agence France-Presse, that “providing urgent and appropriate shelter and bringing aid to our people and people in Gaza is a top priority, and any prisoner exchange cannot take place before all of this is achieved.”

In the same context, a member of the Hamas political leadership, Bassem Naim, stressed the condition of “a comprehensive cessation of aggression, war and the occupation of the Gaza Strip” and “beginning relief, shelter and reconstruction operations.” This is rejected by Israel, which confirms its intention to continue its attack until the elimination of the Hamas movement, in accordance with the goals it has drawn for this war since its beginning.

Read also: Live: Hamas delegation leaves Cairo without agreement on a truce in Gaza as the war enters its sixth month

In an interview with France 24, Dr. Issam Al-Malkawi, professor of political and strategic studies, considers that the most prominent point of disagreement between the two parties is “the lack of trust, and the Palestinian resistance needs it more, because it feels that everyone is conspiring against it, so it is looking for a real international guarantor of the agreement in order to give what it gives.” “You can give it to him to complete the deal. As for Israel, it is not looking for an international guarantor, but on the contrary, it is trying to take everything it can and start fighting again for other gains.”

Also, “each party has conditions that seem impossible to the other party, and each party is trying to appear that it is indifferent to the demands of the other party, and is trying to buy time to exhaust the other party and force it to make concessions,” according to Malkawi’s opinion.

The Jordanian researcher adds that in this type of negotiation, “at the beginning each party presents the maximum possible demands, and with the negotiation process and the role of the mediators, concessions begin, but the resistance has nothing to lose…”, after the heavy toll in the number of victims and material losses. The sector was damaged by it, “Therefore, you must emerge from this war with a moral victory…” Malkawi concludes.

Hope for a truce?

“It seems that there is hope for reaching a truce agreement before the advent of Ramadan,” Malkawi anticipates the outcome of these negotiations, “because the major powers know what the days of Ramadan may bring if the war on Gaza continues during it. America is pressing and Europe is pressing, as are the Arab countries that may Things will slip away and we will enter into a new Arab Spring, and this is what everyone fears…”

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on Wednesday that the United States still believes that the obstacles hindering the talks aimed at a temporary ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) are not insurmountable and that it is possible to reach an agreement.

The American official avoided talking about any failure on the horizon for these negotiations, stressing that Washington is “pushing towards a successful conclusion to these talks.”

On Thursday, Hamas representatives withdrew from the ongoing discussions in Egypt, which were taking place without an Israeli presence, “to consult with the leadership,” and Sami Abu Zuhri, a leader in the Hamas movement, accused Israel of having “thwarted” all the efforts of the mediators to reach a ceasefire agreement. He added in an interview with Reuters that Israel rejects Hamas’s demands “to stop the aggression and withdrawal, and to guarantee the freedom of aid entry and the return of the displaced.” But negotiations will continue under pressure from the international community on both parties. Will it soon culminate in a ceasefire?

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2024-03-07 16:38:15