The United States on Thursday urged Israel and the Palestinian Hamas to finalize a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, after both sides accused each other of derailing negotiations.
Along with Qatar and Egypt, the United States, Israel’s main ally, has been mediating for months to convince the two sides to reach an agreement, nearly 11 months after the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. In vain.
During a trip to Haiti, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed US assessments that 90% of the agreement was ready.
“It is really up to both sides to reach an agreement on the remaining issues,” he told a news conference.
“Even though I think we are close to a ceasefire agreement, every day that goes by without it being finalized and the parties saying ‘yes, period’ is a day when something else happens. […] “That’s simply pushing things back and potentially derailing a very fragile ‘case,'” Blinken warned.
Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement continue to accuse each other of blocking negotiations, at a time when the Israeli army continues its deadly retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“If the US administration and its president really want to reach a ceasefire and conclude a prisoner exchange agreement, they must abandon their blind bias for the Zionist occupation and put real pressure on Netanyahu,” said Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas’s political bureau based in Qatar.
“Red lines”
Since the announcement on Sunday of the discovery in Gaza of the bodies of six Israeli hostages, killed at “point-blank range” by Hamas according to the Israeli army, Mr. Netanyahu has been under strong pressure to reach an agreement allowing the release of the hostages still held in Gaza since October 7.
But the prime minister remains inflexible, having vowed to destroy Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist movement by the United States and the European Union.
Among the sticking points for a deal: the Philadelphia Corridor, an area on the Gaza-Egypt border that Israel wants to retain control of, as well as the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages.
“There is no agreement being negotiated,” Netanyahu told Fox News. “Unfortunately, we are far from reaching that.”
“What we have to do: first, get the hostages out […] Second, maintaining the red lines that are necessary for Israel’s security and survival, and both require maintaining [sous contrôle israélien] “of the Philadelphia corridor, because it puts pressure on Hamas, prevents it from rearming and prevents Gaza from becoming an Iranian terrorist enclave again,” he added. Iran, which supports Hamas, is Israel’s sworn enemy.
“We will force them”
Hamas insists on implementing as is a plan announced on May 31 by US President Joe Biden, which provides for a six-week truce accompanied by a partial Israeli withdrawal and the release of hostages, then eventually a total Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
“We do not need new proposals,” Mr Haya repeated.
At a new demonstration in Tel Aviv, Gil Dickmann, cousin of one of the six hostages found dead in Gaza, said: “We will do everything so that all the hostages are with us. And if the leaders do not want to sign an agreement, we will force them.”
The Hamas attack on October 7 left 1,205 people dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, 33 of whom have been declared dead by the army.
The Israeli reprisals, which have caused a humanitarian and health catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip, have left 40,878 dead there, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed. The majority of the dead are women and children, according to the UN.
New Israeli raids
At least 12 Palestinians including children were killed in Israeli strikes in the devastated Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to medical sources and rescue workers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been able to administer a first dose of polio vaccine to nearly 200,000 children in central Gaza, thanks to “humanitarian pauses” in some areas. It was due to begin its vaccination campaign in the south on Thursday before moving to the north on September 9.
In the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated from Gaza, the Israeli army has continued its offensive in several regions, killing at least 36 Palestinians since August 28, according to Palestinian authorities.
On Thursday in Tubas (north), five Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Among them, according to the Israeli army, was “a major terrorist”.