Gaza ceasefire talks: Mediators push for brief truce of “less than a month”
Shafaq News/ Mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza will present a ceasefire proposal "for less than a month,” AFP reported on Wednesday.
AFP cited a source familiar with the negotiations stating, "Doha meetings between the head of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) David Barnea, CIA Director Bill Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, which concluded on Monday, discussed proposing a short-term truce of less than a month in Gaza.”
"The truce includes an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as well as an increase in aid to the Gaza Strip," he added.
It is believed that Hamas is holding around 100 hostages in Gaza, with nearly half still alive, according to Israeli estimates. However, Hamas announced the death of dozens of hostages in random Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association reported that about 10,000 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails.
Notably, Qatar and the US, along with Egypt, have been engaged in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages in theGaza Strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails; however, all attempts to reach an agreement have failed.
Netanyahu continues to impose new conditions. These include maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of Palestinian fighters to northern Gaza.
For its part, Hamas insists on “a complete withdrawal of the occupying army from the Strip and a total cessation of war before accepting any agreement.”
Israel continues its war on Gaza, killing more than 94,000 people, the majority of whom are children and women, and injuring over 100,000, while 10,000 remain missing.
