Is the release of hostages held by Hamas coming soon? “We are getting closer to concluding a truce agreement”said Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh on Tuesday, November 21, in a brief message. “We have never been so close, we are confident. But there is still work to do. Nothing is done until everything is done”, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. To a journalist who asked him the following question: “Is a hostage release agreement near?”US President Joe Biden responded in Washington: “I believe.” Follow the situation in our live stream.
Intense negotiations for the release of the hostages. Qatar, Egypt and the United States are working on an agreement to try to free hostages kidnapped in Israel by Hamas in exchange, in particular, for a truce in the Gaza Strip.
The Red Cross does not participate in the negotiations, but ensures the well-being of the hostages. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, met on Monday evening with leaders of Qatar as well as the leader of Hamas, based in the Gulf emirate, to“advance on humanitarian issues linked to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza”. Although the ICRC assured that it would not participate in these talks, it insisted that its “teams be allowed to visit the hostages to ensure their well-being and to administer medication, and so that the hostages are able to communicate with their families”, according to a press release.
Israeli Prime Minister meets families of hostages. “Recovering our hostages is a sacred and supreme task and I am committed to it”declared Benjamin Netanyahu on the social network X after this meeting, without lifting the veil on the talks. “We will not stop the fighting until we bring our hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure that there are no more threats from Gaza”he added.
Vladimir Putin at a virtual summit of emerging countries on war. The Russian president is to participate in a virtual summit of the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) devoted to “israelo-Palestinian conflict” in the middle of the Gaza war, says the Kremlin. The Russian presidency has not given any details regarding the agenda for this online meeting of the leaders of this bloc of emerging countries seeking a less American-centric global balance.