2024-07-06 03:10:26
Israel is closer than ever to an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, which is being negotiated through intermediaries with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.
As reported by Day.Az with reference to TASS, this assessment was expressed by the Minister of Defense of the Jewish state, Yoav Galant, reported the 12th channel of Israeli television.
“We are closer than ever to concluding a deal,” the channel quotes the minister as saying. “A month ago, I was pessimistic about the possibility of concluding a deal soon,” he added.
According to the channel, Galant said this at a meeting with relatives of the hostages, which took place on the evening of July 3. The minister’s office stated that he regularly holds both open and closed meetings with relatives of the abducted, and declined to comment on these statements, Channel 12 notes.
The channel’s reporter, Yaron Avraham, who relayed the news, later told 103FM radio that it was the first time he had heard such statements from a high-ranking Israeli official. “I have never heard such a statement from an Israeli official, especially in front of the families of the abductees, with whom you have to be careful not to mislead. This indicates the mentality of some officials who believe that <...> Now we can return to negotiations with Hamas,” the journalist believes.
The deal under discussion
On May 31, US President Joe Biden announced the terms of a new draft agreement on a peace settlement in Gaza, which consists of three stages. The first is designed for six weeks and implies a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas, the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Also during this period, the parties must begin negotiations, and the ceasefire will remain in effect until mutual understanding is reached. The second phase involves the release of all hostages, including military personnel. The third stage is the restoration of the Gaza Strip and the transfer of the remains of the dead Israelis to their relatives.
On June 11, Hamas and the radical group Islamic Jihad announced that they had submitted a response to the initiative to mediators from Qatar and Egypt and expressed their readiness for “positive actions in the name of reaching an agreement to end the war in the enclave.” The United States, Egypt and Qatar confirmed receiving comments on the ceasefire proposal and promised to continue mediation efforts until an agreement is reached between the parties to the conflict in Gaza.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly stated that they support Biden’s proposal and claimed that only Hamas representatives are creating obstacles to the deal. On the evening of July 3, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reported that the Israeli side had received a response from Hamas through intermediaries, was studying the message and preparing a response.