Gaza ceasefire talks hit stumbling block.
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April 18, 2024
Qatar's PM says indirect negotiations on a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages in Gaza have largely stalled. Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, whose country along with Egypt and the United States are mediating between Israel and Hamas, said talks were in a "delicate phase". "We are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block," he added, without giving further details.
They have proposed a six-week truce during which Hamas would free 40 women, children and elderly or sick hostages. The US accused the Palestinian armed group of being "the obstacle to a ceasefire" after it publicly rejected the latest offer over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said 14 Israeli soldiers had been injured, six of them severely, by anti-tank missiles and drones launched from Lebanese territory towards a village in northern Israel. The Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had fired on a military target in the Arab al-Aramshe area in retaliation for recent Israeli strikes that had killed Hezbollah commanders and other fighters. Hezbollah - which like Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, UK and other countries - has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces almost every day along the border since the start of the war in Gaza.
That conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 253 others back to Gaza as hostages.
A week-long ceasefire in November saw 105 hostages - most of them women and children - freed in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli officials say 133 hostages are being held in Gaza - including four taken captive before the war - but that more than 30 of them are dead.
Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed - whose country hosts many of Hamas's political leaders - said mediators were trying to keep the ceasefire negotiations going despite the disagreements between the warring parties. "We are passing through a delicate phase with some stumbling," he told a news conference with his Romanian counterpart. "We are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block and to move forward."
On Saturday, Hamas put out a statement saying it was ready to agree a "serious and true" hostage exchange deal with Israel but rejected what was currently on the table. It also reaffirmed that it was sticking to its demands for a permanent ceasefire that would lead to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, whose director is leading the Israeli negotiating team, said on Sunday that Hamas's stance showed that its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, "does not want a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages, is continuing to exploit the tension with Iran, and is striving to unite the sectors and achieve a general escalation in the region". US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday: "The bottom line is Hamas needs to take that deal and they need to explain to the world and to the Palestinian people why they aren't taking it."
Source: David Gritten, BBC News
Qatar's PM says indirect negotiations on a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages in Gaza have largely stalled. Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, whose country along with Egypt and the United States are mediating between Israel and Hamas, said talks were in a "delicate phase". "We are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block," he added, without giving further details.
They have proposed a six-week truce during which Hamas would free 40 women, children and elderly or sick hostages. The US accused the Palestinian armed group of being "the obstacle to a ceasefire" after it publicly rejected the latest offer over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said 14 Israeli soldiers had been injured, six of them severely, by anti-tank missiles and drones launched from Lebanese territory towards a village in northern Israel. The Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had fired on a military target in the Arab al-Aramshe area in retaliation for recent Israeli strikes that had killed Hezbollah commanders and other fighters. Hezbollah - which like Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, UK and other countries - has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces almost every day along the border since the start of the war in Gaza.
That conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 253 others back to Gaza as hostages.
A week-long ceasefire in November saw 105 hostages - most of them women and children - freed in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli officials say 133 hostages are being held in Gaza - including four taken captive before the war - but that more than 30 of them are dead.
Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed - whose country hosts many of Hamas's political leaders - said mediators were trying to keep the ceasefire negotiations going despite the disagreements between the warring parties. "We are passing through a delicate phase with some stumbling," he told a news conference with his Romanian counterpart. "We are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block and to move forward."
On Saturday, Hamas put out a statement saying it was ready to agree a "serious and true" hostage exchange deal with Israel but rejected what was currently on the table. It also reaffirmed that it was sticking to its demands for a permanent ceasefire that would lead to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, whose director is leading the Israeli negotiating team, said on Sunday that Hamas's stance showed that its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, "does not want a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages, is continuing to exploit the tension with Iran, and is striving to unite the sectors and achieve a general escalation in the region". US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday: "The bottom line is Hamas needs to take that deal and they need to explain to the world and to the Palestinian people why they aren't taking it."
Source: David Gritten, BBC News