In the wake of a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Doha, the Israeli army continued to destroy all necessities of life for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, people and stones, eliminating an entire residential neighborhood, and causing dozens of deaths among civilians.
Israeli forces destroyed a residential neighborhood consisting of several buildings in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the far north of the Gaza Strip, as part of its ongoing operation in that area, which mainly focuses on destroying the remaining homes, buildings, infrastructure, and even hospitals and others.
Medics said that a bombing of a house in Gaza City claimed the lives of 14 Palestinians early on Saturday morning, bringing the death toll during the past 24 hours to 62.
Regarding the Doha Round, the plane of the Israeli delegation participating in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza returned to Israel coming from the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday, amid reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding discussions regarding developments in the desired deal to exchange prisoners and detainees with the Hamas movement.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the Israeli delegation, which is conducting indirect negotiations with the Palestinian Hamas movement, boarded its plane, before noon on Sunday, returning to Tel Aviv, coming from Doha, where it arrived on Friday.
The commission said that Netanyahu invited a limited number of ministers to hold what it described as “security talks” in Jerusalem, late on Saturday evening.
Israeli officials participating in the negotiations considered that Hamas’s broadcast of a video in which an Israeli female detainee appeared in Gaza indicates that the movement is under pressure and wants to conclude a deal to exchange prisoners and detainees. Officials confirmed progress in negotiations, but said that “there is still a long way to go.”
For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted unidentified Israeli sources as saying, “The leaders of the security services in Israel prefer to immediately seek to reach a single comprehensive deal with Hamas to release all Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip.”
The sources say that Israel “will not face a problem in returning to work in Gaza,” under the pretext of Hamas committing violations after “announcing” an end to the war in Gaza. The sources added that “the gap between the two parties is still wide and deep,” and that “there are issues in which the gaps have widened.”
She continued, “Even with regard to the so-called first humanitarian agreement, most of whose details seem to have been agreed upon over the past year since the explosion of the previous ceasefire, it became clear that almost nothing had been agreed upon,” according to the sources.
A senior source in the Israeli Ministry of Defense said: “It must be clear to the public and to the families that the current talk is about a very small and limited deal in order to achieve something, to release someone in the end… This is not a comprehensive deal, nor is it one step out of several.” Planned steps.
The source warned that a deal like this could put everyone on a one-way path, saying: “The small deal, if it is achieved, will be the only one for a very long period of time, and after that it is not certain that there will be anyone (of the Israeli detainees) left (on alive) for his release.
The newspaper indicated that there are other reasons for concern among most of the participants in the work about the possibility of reaching another agreement, and it quoted a high-ranking source as saying: “Even in a small deal, the Israeli army will be forced to withdraw, and it may be difficult for Israel to return to the fighting.”
He added: “The Israeli army will be less present on the ground. The result of such a situation will be a reduction in Israeli pressure on Hamas and, directly, a less urgent need on its part to make concessions.”
In turn, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that its operations may be paralyzed, with the Israeli decision to ban its operations expected to take effect at the end of January.
UNRWA said, in a brief statement yesterday, Saturday: “Time is running out for the possible ban on the agency, which may prevent it from providing services to millions of Palestinian refugees.”
The statement added that the United Nations “does not plan to replace the agency, and that the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) must change its decision to ban it.”
Last updated: January 5, 2025 – 23:43
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