After over a year of deadly war in Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas seems closer than ever before. With talks in Cairo making progress, an agreement to halt the 14-month-old war in the Palestinian enclave and free hostages could be signed in the coming days, according to media reports.
For months, Qatar and Egypt along with the United States have been trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas in the quest for a Gaza truce and hostage release. With US President Joe Biden set the leave the office next month, the American administration intensified efforts to broker a dead to halt the conflict.
“We believe – and the Israelis have said this – that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that, but we also are cautious in our optimism,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with Fox News.
“We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line,” he added.
To give the final shape to a truce agreement, CIA Director William Burns, a key US negotiator, was due in Doha on Wednesday for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The meeting is aimed at bridging remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, news agency Reuters reported quoting sources.
As per the report, the truce deal could be days away, which would stop the fighting and ensure the exchange of hostages held by the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Gaza Truce Talks ‘Serious and Positive’
Hamas said talks aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were “serious and positive” and a deal was possible if Israel stopped setting new conditions.
“Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has also said an agreement is closer than ever. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Adam Boehler, designated by US President-elect Donald Trump to be his special envoy for hostage affairs, in Israel on Monday.
Trump’s Warning To Hamas
At a press conference in Florida on Monday, Trump reiterated his threat that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release its hostages by January 20, the day he takes office. Later, the US-President-elect said that if no ceasefire deal is reached by the time he takes office, “It’s not going to be pleasant.” He did not elaborate.
War In Gaza
The war in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw more than 250 abducted as hostages, has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and left Israel isolated internationally. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.