where are the negotiations for a truce in Gaza?

After the failure of the talks in Cairo, the hypothesis of an end to the fighting before Ramadan, which begins on Monday, seems to be receding.

Fadi would like “still believe in it”. But this Gazan, today a refugee in Egypt, is “I have to be lucid”. “The more the hours pass, the more hopes of a truce before the start of Ramadan are diminishing”, admits, wearily, this student contacted by franceinfo, while his mother and sister are still stuck in the Gaza Strip. Despite new talks in Cairo in recent days, negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages are still at an impasse. Franceinfo explains to you why, at this stage, the two belligerents have not agreed on a truce, while the holy month of Muslim fasting begins Monday March 10.

Negotiations in Cairo are at a standstill…

For four days, from Sunday March 3 to Wednesday March 6, new talks took place in Cairo between Egypt, Qatar and the United States. These three countries, which have acted as mediators since the start of the conflict on October 7, tried to reach an agreement for a break in the fighting before the start of Ramadan. Around the table also, uno Hamas delegation, but no Israeli representative.

The plan discussed included a six-week truce and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza (including women, elderly people, people in poor health, as well as five Israeli soldiers) in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees. It also allowed an increase in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.

But the negotiations ended in failure and the Hamas delegation ended up leaving the discussions on Wednesday. The spokesperson for the Islamist movement, Jihad Taha, said that Israel was not responding to his “minimum requirements”. The Hebrew State “refuses to commit and give guarantees regarding the ceasefire, the return of displaced persons and the withdrawal from the areas of its incursion”he explained.

…but they could continue

Despite this new failure, the negotiators say they are determined to continue their mediation for as long as it takes. “The mediators informed Hamas that efforts would continue to reach an agreement”recognized a leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, speaking on condition of anonymity. But the path of negotiations “will not be open indefinitely”, for his part warned another Hamas official based in Beirut, Lebanon.

While recognizing a “difficult negotiation”, the American administration is also pushing for a compromise. “We continue to believe that the obstacles are not insurmountable and that an agreement can be reached”assured Wednesday the spokesperson for the American State Department, Matthew Miller.

During his traditional State of the Union speech, delivered on the night of Thursday to Friday, the American president in turn once again called for a “an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks”. Which would allow in particular “the release of all the hostages” still held in the Gaza Strip. He also spoke, at greater length than ever before, of the suffering of Palestinian civilians, warning his Israeli ally that humanitarian aid “could not be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip”.

Hamas still demands a definitive ceasefire

The main point of divergence has remained the same for several weeks: Hamas wants Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire, that is to say a definitive end to the fighting. Before any agreement on the release of hostages held in Gaza, the terrorist movement is also demanding the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, as well as thehe return to their homes of hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced since the start of the war.

Mahmoud Mardaoui, one of Hamas leaders, told AFP that “the decision was in the hands of Washington.” It’s up to Joe Biden to decide “if he really wants to put pressure on Netanyahu and his government to reach an agreement.” “If Israel is serious and does not procrastinate, it is possible to reach a ceasefire agreement before the start of Ramadan”he said.

“On February 28, Ismail Haniyeh, a Qatar-based Hamas political leader, publicly called for a Ramadan march in Jerusalem in front of the al-Aqsa Mosque.”also writes on New York Times.

Israel demands precise list of hostages still alive in Gaza

Israel has so far rejected all of Hamas’ demands. Benjamin Netanyahu does not intend to withdraw its military forces from the Palestinian territory and, on the contrary, it assures that the offensive will continue until the “total victory”. Abandoning the Israeli offensive in Rafah, where most of the Palestinian civilian population has taken refuge (1.5 million people according to the UN), would amount to to “Israel’s loss of the war”, said Thursday Israeli Prime Minister. “Hamas has two options: surrender or die. There is no other,” he said. hammered his Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, in the process.

The Jewish state, which only envisages a simple pause in stopping the fighting, still demands that Hamas provide a precise list of hostages still alive in Gaza. There are still 130 of them – including around thirty presumed dead – out of the approximately 250 kidnapped on October 7. But the terrorist movement says it does not know who is “alive or dead” among them. On February 18, Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, also a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, warned: “If by Ramadan, the hostages are not at home, fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region.”