Israel and Hamas fail to reach truce agreement in the Gaza Strip | World

Representatives of the Israeli government and the terrorist group Hamas, who met this Sunday (5) in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss a ceasefire in the war they are waging in the Gaza Strip, they did not reach a truce agreement. A Palestinian representative told the Reuters news agency that this round of negotiations “is close to collapse.”

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israeli territory, killed 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 – it is believed that today there are still around 130 Israeli hostages taken to the Gaza Strip.

According to health authorities in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, almost 35,000 Palestinians have died since then and 77,000 have been injured.

However, negotiations have not progressed, and each side blames the other for the impasse.

see below what Hamas and Israel about the failure of negotiations.

Hamas wants Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip, release Palestinians held in detention houses in Israel and, in return, promises to release the hostages they still hold in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group still wants to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that would include an end to Israel’s “aggression,” with guarantees that Israeli forces would leave the Gaza Strip. and an exchange of Hamas hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in detention centers in Israel.

Haniyeh says that the blame for the continued aggression and the expansion of the conflict lies with Netanyahu, who is said to be sabotaging the attempts at agreement made by the mediators.

According to a source from the Reuters news agency, Israel had initially signaled that it would accept a ceasefire lasting a few weeks and that it would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who are being held in detention houses in Israel. in exchange for the release of 20 to 33 that Hamas kidnapped.

However, on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his country’s goal is to disarm and end Hamas, and that without this Israel’s future is in danger.

He said he is willing to suspend the war in exchange for the release of the hostages and that Israel has demonstrated willingness (to reach an agreement), but that Hamas is still “entrenched in extremist positions.” He cites demands that the Israelis withdraw all forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war and leave Hamas in power, which Israel I couldn’t accept it.

“We are noticing worrying signs that Hamas has no intention of reaching an agreement with us, which means that intense military actions in Rafah and the rest of the Gaza Strip will begin in the very near future.”

The first stages of the war in the Gaza Strip took place in the north of the territory. To escape the violence, around a million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, the largest city in the south of the Strip.

For months, Israel has said it has plans to send forces to Rafah. The Israeli government claims that Hamas fighters have hidden there and that there may be hostages kidnapped in the region.

However, a military incursion into Rafah would be very risky. The UN humanitarian office said on Friday that an Israeli invasion of the city would put aid operations across the territory at risk.

The Israeli Army announced this Sunday the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing that gives access to the Gaza Strip – and where humanitarian aid enters – after a rocket attack.

The United States, an ally of Israel, has already stated that it is against a military operation in Rafah.

CIA director William Burns, who was in Cairo, went to Doha, Qatar, to meet with the country’s prime minister, according to the Reuters news agency.

The US government calls on Hamas to reach an agreement.