Gaza ceasefire talks paused with resumption planned next week

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Gaza ceasefire talks paused with resumption planned next week

TOPSHOT – A woman stands holding a child surrounded by the rubble of buildings destroyed during ******** bombardment in Khan Younis on the southern Gaza Strip on June 23, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between ******* and the ************ militant group ******. 

Eyad Baba | Afp | Getty Images

Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha were paused on Friday with negotiators set to meet again next week in search of an agreement to end fighting between ******* and ****** and free remaining hostages, mediators said.

In a ****** statement, the ******* States, Qatar and Egypt said Washington had presented a new proposal that built on points of agreement over the past week, closing gaps between the sides in a way that could allow rapid implementation of a deal.

Mediators would continue to work on the proposal in coming days, they said.

“The path is now set for that outcome, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza, and de-escalating regional tensions,” they said in the statement.

An ******** official said its delegation in Doha was heading back home later on Friday and that ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.

The latest round in months of on-off talks to end the war in Gaza, which has ******* tens of thousands of Palestinians, began between ******* and mediators on Thursday. The ************ militant group ****** was not directly involved in the talks but was kept briefed on progress.

Sticking points have included *******’s insistence that peace will only be possible if ****** is destroyed, and ****** saying it will only accept a permanent, rather than temporary, ceasefire.

Other difficulties have included the sequencing of a deal, the number and identity of ************ prisoners to be released alongside ******** hostages, control over the border between Gaza and Egypt, and free movement for Palestinians inside Gaza.

Overnight, ******** forces pounded targets across tiny, crowded Gaza and issued new orders for people to leave areas it had previously designated as civilian safe zones, saying ****** had used them to ***** mortars and rockets at *******.

The conflict began on Oct. 7 when ****** fighters rampaged into *******, ******** around 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages according to ******** tallies.

*******’s military campaign has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and ******* more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to ************ health authorities. ******* says it has eliminated 17,000 ****** fighters.

Regional fears

In a statement late on Thursday, ****** politburo member Hossam Badran said *******’s continuing operations were an obstacle to progress on a ceasefire.

The ******** delegation included spy chief David Barnea, head of the domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon, defence officials said.

The White House sent CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel were also taking part.

The negotiations took place in the shadow of a feared regional escalation, with Iran threatening to retaliate against ******* after the ************** of ****** leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

With U.S. warships, submarines and warplanes dispatched to the region to defend ******* and deter potential attackers, Washington hopes a ceasefire agreement in Gaza can defuse the risk of a wider war.

*********** U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he had told Netanyahu during their last meeting in July to quickly end the Gaza war, but the former president also criticized ceasefire demands.

“He knows what he’s doing, I did encourage him to get this over with,” Trump told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. “It has to get over with fast. … Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the ******** has to stop.”

Netanyahu’s office and Trump both separately denied on Thursday an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and ******** release talks.

The White House meanwhile said attacks by ******** settlers on ************ civilians in the West Bank were “unacceptable and must stop” after dozens of settlers assaulted a village, ******** at least one person.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Gaza #ceasefire #talks #paused #resumption #planned #week

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

For verified travel tips and real support, visit: https://hopzone.eu/