2024-02-25 18:40:06
February 25, 2024
19:40
“Common ground” for a temporary ceasefire is emerging, Washington believes. But Benjamin Netanyahu repeats that he will not give up on an offensive on Rafah.
Israel vowed on Sunday to launch a ground offensive on the crowded town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, despite ongoing negotiations to reach a new truce in the war against Hamas.
An offensive on this city, where nearly a million and a half civilians are massed, according to the UN, trapped against the closed border with Egypt, would only be “delayed” if a truce is reached, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, on the American channel CBS. With an operation in Rafah, Israel will be “a few weeks” from a “total victory” over the Islamist movement, he said.
Common ground”
For his part, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that representatives of Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar reached talks in Paris “to common ground” regarding “the contours” of a possible agreement, relating to the release of the hostages and “a temporary ceasefire”. Discussions resumed on Sunday in Doha, with the participation of Hamas, and could continue in Cairo.
According to a Hamas source, the discussions concern the first phase of a plan drawn up in January by the mediators, which provided for a six-week truce and the release of 200 to 300 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for 35 to 40 hostagesas well as the entry into Gaza of a large quantity of humanitarian aid.
But to make a deal, Israel first demands “the release of all hostages, starting with all the women”Tzachi Hanegbi, national security adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Saturday evening. Hamas, for its part, is calling for a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. and safe shelter for the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the war.
Rafah, “last bastion”
Hamas Ministry of Health on Sunday again counted 86 deaths in 24 hours across the Palestinian territory. The Israeli offensive has left 29,692 dead in Gaza, the vast majority civilians, since October 7, according to this source, regularly relayed by the United Nations.
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack carried out in Israel by Hamas commandos, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians. During the attack, some 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. According to Israel, 130 hostages, including 31 dead, are still being held there.
1708914266
#Israel #promises #offensive #Rafah #truce #agreed