Related Post
The Wall Street Journal quoted an American official – today, Thursday – as saying that the controversy over the Israeli Prime Minister’s statements Benjamin Netanyahu around Qatar It will not affect the mediation efforts you lead United State to ceasefire Gaza strip And release Israeli detainees.
The Washington Post also quoted American officials as saying that President Joe Biden plans to send CIA Director William Burns to help reach an agreement between the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) and Israel, indicating that Burns will broker an ambitious agreement for the release of all hostages and a long cessation of hostilities.
According to officials familiar with the matter, Burns is expected to travel to Europe for meetings with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, said these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Burns’ talks in Europe are expected to rely on his phone conversations with his counterparts, in addition to the work of the White House’s chief official in the Middle East, Brett McGurk, who this week held related meetings in the Qatari capital, Doha, and Cairo.
The latest Israeli proposal included a 60-day cessation of fighting in exchange for the gradual release of more than 100 prisoners, starting with civilian women and children, followed by civilian and military men, men and the remains of those who were captured and died after being kidnapped.
Such a pause would allow Israel to continue fighting beyond the two-month period of calm in line with Netanyahu’s pledge to achieve “total victory” by destroying Hamas. The CIA declined to comment. The Israelis also suggested that senior Hamas leaders agree to leave Gaza, but an official familiar with the negotiations said the idea was not acceptable to Hamas and its military leaders, who are willing to die as martyrs in the Palestinian enclave.
The official said that Hamas also rejected Israel’s proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, saying the upcoming detainee release must include a permanent ceasefire. But several officials said negotiations on these key points remain active.
Samir Farag, a former Egyptian general and defense official, said that both Hamas and Israel have shown a willingness to return to the negotiating table. He added, “Everyone wants peace – the Palestinians, Hamas, and the Israelis. But everyone wants to win the negotiations. We are trying to reach a compromise.” Faraj said that Hamas’s holding of hostages puts it “in a very strong position. I think Netanyahu is under pressure, because the street in Israel wants the hostages released.” He added, “So he has to do something, otherwise he will face a big problem, especially because he lost a lot of soldiers in the war.” there”.
Qatar position
For its part, the American NBC News network quoted a Qatari official as saying that Qatar will not jeopardize talks on the release of hostages held by Hamas due to disagreements with individuals.
The Qatari official added that the mediation is related to saving the lives of Israeli detainees and protecting Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, not politicians.
This comes after Israeli media published leaks from Netanyahu’s meeting with the families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, in which the latter attacked Qatar.
Netanyahu accusation
Earlier Thursday, the Association of Families of Israeli Prisoners in Gaza said that publishing leaks from those families’ meeting with Netanyahu when he attacked Qatar “is a crime and exposes the prisoners to danger.”
The Prisoners’ Families Association considered in a statement that the only source for the recording and leaking was Netanyahu’s office and those close to him, and described the military censors’ permission to publish the leaks as very dangerous.
The Commission invited members of the Israeli mini-cabinet (The cabinet) to stop the “madness” and act responsibly to save the lives of 136 Israelis.
The statement came in response to a leak published by the Israeli Channel 12 of Netanyahu’s speech during his meeting with the families of the prisoners, in which he said that Qatar is more problematic than… United nations AndRed CrossHe is disappointed that Washington is not putting more pressure on him Doha.
According to the leaked recording, Netanyahu indicated that he did not thank Qatar publicly, because it could put more pressure on Hamas.
Qatari response
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari strongly denounced the statements attributed to Netanyahu, describing them as “irresponsible and obstructing efforts to save lives, but they are not surprising.”
Al-Ansari said in a statement that if the statements turn out to be true, the Israeli Prime Minister will obstruct mediation efforts for narrow political reasons instead of giving priority to saving lives.
He added that instead of being preoccupied with Qatar’s strategic relationship with the United States, Netanyahu should be preoccupied with overcoming the obstacles to reaching an agreement to release the hostages.
The Israeli Finance Minister responded Bezalel Smotrich On the statement of the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, saying that “Qatar is the main sponsor of the Hamas movement,” adding that the West’s position towards Qatar is “hypocritical and based on interests.”
Smotrich called on the West to pressure Qatar to release detainees in the Gaza Strip, saying that “one thing is clear, which is that Qatar will not have a role the next day after the war in Gaza.”
In turn, Hamas said in a statement that the statements of Israeli leaders against Qatar’s role in mediation reflect the reality of the occupation’s position, which obstructs reaching an agreement on the prisoners.
Hamas confirmed that Qatar is playing its active political role to stop the aggression against Gaza and achieve achievement in the prisoner exchange file.
Qatar was on the side Egypt The United States played a major role in reaching a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel on November 24, which lasted for a week, according to which 240 Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons were released, in exchange for more than 100 prisoners, including 80 Israeli detainees.
