as a new round of negotiations for a truce approaches, Israel and Hamas mark their disagreements

The Israeli Prime Minister announced on Friday that he had “approved a next round of negotiations, in the coming days, in Doha and Cairo” with a view to moving forward on the possibility of a truce involving the release of Israeli hostages held since October 7 in the Palestinian territory.

An agreement on a truce in Gaza involving the release of Israeli hostages still seems far away. Despite the possible opening of new negotiations and repeated calls from the international community for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel, Hamas and the Israeli authorities once again expressed deep disagreements on Sunday March 31.

At the end of the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip of having “hardened” its positions. And this, “while Israel showed flexibility in its positions during the negotiations”he declared during a press conference.

Faced with international pressure, as well as that of the families of the hostages, the Israeli Prime Minister announced on Friday that he had “approved a next round of negotiations, in the coming days, in Doha and Cairo (…) to move forward.”

Uncertainty over sending a Hamas delegation

Earlier, on Sunday, a Hamas official quoted by AFP declared that the positions between the Palestinian movement and the Jewish state were still “too far away” to decide whether or not to send a delegation to Doha, Qatar, or Cairo, Egypt, where indirect discussions are regularly held via international mediators with a view to a possible truce. Discussions so far without resultwith both parties accusing each other of blocking.

“There is no indication or decision yet within Hamas regarding sending a Hamas delegation to a new round of negotiations in Cairo or Doha,” this official assured the press agency on condition of anonymity, while the pro-government Egyptian media Al-Qahera News, close to the Egyptian security services, announced the resumption of discussions on Sunday.

Since the start of the war, only one week-long truce was established at the end of November and allowed the release of around a hundred hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.