By Deutsche Welle
05 May 2024, 09:54 AM EDT
Israel and Hamas accused each other of obstructing the negotiations that resumed in Cairo with international mediation to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip, after almost seven months of war.
The mediators – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – sat down with the Hamas delegation to hear their response to the latest truce proposal, submitted at the end of April. This offer includes a cessation of fighting for 40 days and an exchange of Israeli people held in Gaza – from October 7, 2023 – in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
A Hamas leader reiterated that they will not accept “under any circumstances” an agreement that does not explicitly include the end of the war. For his part, an Israeli leader had recently considered Hamas’s position as an obstacle to any agreement.
“So far, Hamas has not abandoned its demand to end the war.a, thus obstructing the possibility of reaching an agreement,” he told the agency AFP a senior Israeli official, on condition of anonymity. The official denied reports that Israel had agreed to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Israel – which is not present at the Cairo negotiations – will only send a delegation if progress is made in the “framework” of the hostage exchange, declared an Israeli representative in Jerusalem, adding that he expected “difficult negotiations.”
According to the portal Axiosthe head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, is in the Egyptian capital.
The possible ground offensive in Rafah
Meanwhile, Israeli bombings continued in Gaza, especially in Rafah, a city at the southern end of the Strip where around 1.5 million people are crowded. Israel – which, like the United States and the European Union, classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization – opposes the definitive ceasefire and insists on launching a ground offensive against Rafahconsidering it the last bastion of the Islamist commandos.
The United States opposes an invasion of that territory, especially if Israel does not protect civilians. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that this offensive in Rafah could lead to “a bloodbath.”
A ground operation in Rafah could also compromise humanitarian aid that enters the Strip, mostly through this city on the border with Egypt, and that is already insufficient for the 2.4 million people there.
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