Egypt Hosts New Gaza Ceasefire Talk; Hamas, Fatah Officials Join (image @UNRWA)
Cairo, Egypt: Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh move for a ceasefire in the Gaza, reported Reuters citing two Hamas sources. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold security talks on the matter, two Israeli officials told the news agency. Hamas officials’ visit to Egypt was the first since United States said it would revive efforts in ceasefire negotiations in collaborations with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. The rival of Hamas in Gaza, the Fatah group, also joins the talk.
Jake Sullivan, White House national security advisor, said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Palestinian territory were now more likely. “(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts”, he said while speaking to CNN.
“So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I’m not going to predict exactly when it will happen … we’ve come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line”, he further added.
Through all the ceasefire negotiations that took place in the past, Hamas has insisted that any deal should conclude with Israel ending the war, while Israel says the war will end when Hamas no longer rules Gaza or poses a threat to Israelis.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday that there was some indication of progress toward a hostage deal but that Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed, reported Reuters.
“We will know in the coming days. From our perspective, the government of Israel, there is a desire to advance in this direction,” he said at a Israel Hayom newspaper conference.
At the same time, Israel continued to pummel Gaza with intense bombing. The Israeli Occupation Force blew up buildings in the besieged Jabalia refugee camp and launched artillery attacks on nearby Beit Lahiya. The Wafa news agency said the shelling was indiscriminate and said the residents feared that the attacks were a prelude to a new ground incursion in the area. Israeli attacks were also reported in the central Nuseirat refugee camp as well as the northern Gaza Strip.
The United Nations aid agency UNRWA announced halting aid delivery amidst reports of violent looting. In addition, to starving the Palestinians by cutting out food, water, and all other basic necessities, Israel also blocked aids from reaching some of mostly effected areas of the besieged enclave.
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After Israel closed the Rafah border with Egypt, Karem Abu Salem crossing between Israel and Gaza has been the only option available for delivering humanitarian aids. Also known as the Kerem Shalom crossing to Israelis, it is also the only crossing between Israel and Gaza that is designed for cargo shipments.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA chief, said that using the Karem Abu Salem crossing has become “unnecessarily impossible” due to “the ongoing siege, hurdles from Israeli authorities, political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid, lack of safety on aid routes and targeting of local police”. He added that Israel bears the responsibility for protecting aid workers and supplies as it is the occupying power in Gaza.
UNRWA’s Lazzarini said it was Israel’s responsibility “as occupying power” to protect aid workers and supplies, and that the humanitarian operation had become “unnecessarily impossible” due to what he said were Israeli restrictions.
According to Al Jazeera, Palestinian groups looting the aid supplies are supported and protected by the Israeli military.
