2024-07-31 21:02:40
An informed source said that officials from the United States, Israel, Egypt and Qatar met on Sunday in the Italian capital, Rome, to continue negotiations on reaching a ceasefire agreement and releasing the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times revealed, citing 7 officials who participated in the talks or were informed of them, that the negotiations, which have been ongoing for several months, “are still stalled on several key issues,” especially regarding the continued presence of Israeli forces in Gaza during the truce.
Israel wants to maintain military checkpoints along a strategic highway inside Gaza to prevent Hamas fighters from moving weapons, according to four Israeli officials and an official from a mediating country who spoke to the newspaper.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday evening that the head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, had returned to his country after participating in the Rome negotiations with the mediators.
He said in a statement published on the “X” platform that the meeting witnessed “discussing clarifications regarding a draft agreement conveyed by Israel,” noting that “negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days,” without mentioning further details.
The updated proposal includes changes to the locations where IDF forces will be redeployed.
“amended document”
In turn, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the amended Israeli document that was submitted in the Rome round of negotiations included 3 main points.
The points are: “Imposing a monitoring mechanism to prevent the return of Palestinian faction militants to the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli vision regarding the situation in the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes, and Israel’s right to reject certain names of Palestinian prisoners required to be released.”
The Authority added that “the issue of Hamas relinquishing power in the Strip or not was not mentioned in the document, which also stressed Israel’s right to resume fighting if necessary,” a demand that Hamas may reject.
The British newspaper, Financial Times, quoted a person familiar with the negotiations as saying that reaching an agreement on Gaza is “likely… but not imminent.”
“There are still big gaps. Negotiations will take time,” he added.
Three officials familiar with the talks told the New York Times that Israeli negotiators discussed during the meeting the issue of withdrawing Israeli forces from the border area between Egypt and Gaza, “if it can first install electronic sensors to detect any future attempts to dig tunnels, as well as build underground barriers along the border.”
“But no agreement has been reached on this matter,” the officials added.
After appearing more flexible on the issue earlier, Israel toughened up again about three weeks ago, while Hamas has not agreed to any compromise, according to officials.
Earlier this July, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement denouncing a Reuters report that Israel “discussed in negotiations with Cairo a withdrawal from the Gaza border with Egypt,” describing it as “fake news.”
Reuters had quoted at the time two Egyptian sources and a third informed source as saying that Israeli and Egyptian negotiators were holding talks on “an electronic monitoring system on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which could allow the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area if a ceasefire is agreed upon.”
Six Israeli officials told The New York Times that the Israeli prime minister “is behind the tough stance Israel has taken in the ongoing talks in Rome,” and that senior security officials “are pressing him to show more flexibility in order to secure an agreement.”
The Financial Times quoted a number of people familiar with the negotiations as saying that “optimism diminished when Netanyahu presented his new demands.”
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment from the newspaper.
The war broke out in the Gaza Strip, following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, according to Israeli authorities.
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2024-07-31 21:02:40