2024-03-04 22:53:19
A Sky News Arabia correspondent in Cairo reported the end of the second day of discussions between the United States of America, Hamas, and Qatar, aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
According to our correspondent in the Egyptian capital, these discussions are expected to resume today, Tuesday.
The ceasefire talks, which began on Sunday in Cairo, are described as a final obstacle to reaching the first long ceasefire during the five-month war before the month of Ramadan.
Israel declined to comment publicly on the Cairo talks or its decision not to attend.
A source had told Reuters that Israel would not participate because Hamas had rejected its request to obtain a list of the names of all its detainees who are still alive, which is information the movement says it will not provide until after agreeing on the terms of the agreement.
Two Egyptian security sources said that mediators are conducting contacts with the Israelis, allowing negotiations to continue despite the absence of the Israeli delegation.
According to a Palestinian source close to the talks, they are “not easy” as Israel adheres to its demand for a temporary truce only to free the hostages, while Hamas seeks guarantees not to wage war again.
The White House considered that a temporary ceasefire in Gaza was necessary to reach an agreement on the hostages and called on Hamas to accept the conditions currently on the table.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the United States still hopes to conclude a ceasefire agreement in exchange for the release of the hostages before the beginning of Ramadan, but Hamas has not yet agreed to the terms of the agreement.
According to Kirby, the United States will continue airdrops of relief supplies into Gaza and is considering using ships.
He stressed that delivery via trucks had slowed down due to opposition from some members of the Israeli government, adding: “In this regard, Israel bears the responsibility to make more (effort).”
The proposal being discussed stipulates the adoption of a truce for approximately 40 days, during which the militants release about 40 of the more than 100 hostages they are still holding in exchange for the release of about 400 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Israeli forces will withdraw from some areas, more humanitarian aid will be allowed into Gaza, and residents will be allowed to return to their abandoned homes.
But the agreement does not appear to directly address Hamas’s demand to find a clear path to end the war permanently, nor does it determine the fate of more than half of the remaining detainees, who are Israeli men excluded from this agreement and previous agreements that include women, children, the elderly, and the wounded.
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