(Jerusalem) Efforts to reach a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza appeared to have made progress on Sunday, with the Palestinian movement saying it had not seen any “major problems” with a latest associated ceasefire proposal. to the release of the hostages.
“The atmosphere is positive, barring new obstacles posed by Israel,” a Palestinian movement official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“No major problem is raised in the observations and requests that Hamas will submit regarding the content of the Egyptian proposal” during this meeting, said this official on the eve of a tripartite meeting Monday in Cairo with Egypt and Qatar.
This meeting comes almost seven months after the start of the war, triggered by the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel on October 7.
A Hamas delegation will give its response in Cairo on Monday.
On Saturday, Hamas announced that it was “studying” this counter-proposal, specifying that it “will submit its response once its study is completed.”
PHOTO HATEM KHALED, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A young girl pours water in a camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 27.
Meanwhile, the war knows no respite in the small besieged and famine-threatened territory, where Hamas took power in 2007. The Israeli army said on Sunday it had struck “dozens of terrorist targets” in the center of Gaza.
It also claims to be preparing a ground offensive in Rafah where there are a million and a half Palestinians, mainly displaced people. Many capitals and humanitarian organizations fear a bloodbath in this city already regularly bombarded by the army.
From Saudi Arabia, where a special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held from Sunday, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, called on the United States to prevent a ground invasion in Rafah. If it were to take place, the operation would be the “greatest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people,” he said.
In Riyadh, in front of senior Arab and Western leaders, Saudi Arabia described the inability of the international community to stop this war as a “total failure”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also expected in Saudi Arabia, where he will notably discuss “ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that allows the release of hostages”, according to the State Department . He will travel to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday, according to the same source.
PHOTO EVELYN HOCKSTEIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
In Beirut, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, discussed on Sunday with Lebanese officials ways to avoid an extension of the conflict.
Since the start of the war, there have been daily exchanges of fire on Israel’s northern border between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.
“A deal now”
These diplomatic negotiations are taking place while awaiting Hamas’ response to the Israeli counter-proposal.
The details of this proposal have not filtered but according to the Axios site, which cites Israeli officials, it includes the desire to discuss “the establishment of lasting calm” in Gaza.
Meanwhile, internal pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to increase. On Saturday evening, thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to demand the release of hostages kidnapped on October 7.
PHOTO OHAD ZWIGENBERG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Demonstration in Tel Aviv, Saturday evening
That day, Hamas commandos carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain captive in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, as well as the United States and the European Union. Its offensive in Gaza left 34,454 dead, mostly civilians, according to a new report from the Hamas Ministry of Health on Sunday.
“A deal, now!” » chanted the demonstrators on Saturday evening, while calling on the Netanyahu government to resign. Shortly before, Hamas released a video showing two hostages, Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47. This is the second video released in several days by Hamas.
At the rally in Tel Aviv, Mr Miran’s father urged Hamas to “show humanity”, also asking it to “make a decision now”.
Strikes and artillery fire
On the ground, throughout Saturday, the Israeli navy targeted Hamas targets and provided support to troops deployed in the center of the territory, the army said on Sunday.
According to an AFP correspondent, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes and artillery fire in several areas of the Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Younes and Rafah, two towns in the south of the territory, as well as in Gaza City (north).
In total, 66 Palestinians died in 24 hours, according to Hamas.
“We are tired after seven months of displacement and struggle in the camps. So we insisted on returning and staying in a tent on the rubble of our house in Khan Younes, Abdelqader Mohammed Qwaider told AFPTV.
In addition to the destruction and heavy human toll, the war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territory where 2.4 million people live. Strictly controlled by Israel, humanitarian aid comes in trickles.
On Saturday, a British ship left Cyprus to accommodate hundreds of US military personnel who are building an artificial pier in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
In the process, Cyprus announced that a ship loaded with aid, which returned from Gaza in early April after an Israeli strike killed seven humanitarian workers, was heading back towards the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that 25,000 humanitarian aid trucks had entered Gaza since October 7. The UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts the figure at 23,000 trucks.