Hamas Response To Truce Negotiation "Generally Positive": Qatar, Blinken Calls It "Essential" (image@SecBlinken)
Qatar, the mediator in Israel-Hamas war, said that the political group of Gaza has shown a “generally positive” response to a proposed truce deal with Israel, but reiterated its demand for an end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
During a press conference with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Hamas reaction was “generally positive”, but did not provide more details. Blinken said the response of Hamas to the proposal that was brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and US has been shared with Israeli officials.
Blinken, who is on a lightning tour of the Middle East, said he would discuss the issue with Israeli official when visit Israel on Wednesday. He said the deal is “essential”. He said, “there’s still a lot of work to be done. But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it”.
Hamas, the resistance group of Gaza, in a statement said that its leaders had reviewed the “comprehensive ceasefire deal…with a positive spirit”, including details on securing relief and shelter, reconstruction, the lifting of a 17-year-old crippling siege, and completion of the “prisoner exchange” process, said Al Jazeera.
Qatar has been working with Egypt and America to broker a truce that would involve an extended pause in the fighting and release of hostages held by Hamas. Al Thani said there are number of challenges for the mediators throughout the talks, and the situation on the grounds of Gaza effect the course of negotiations. He said, “we are hoping to see it yielding and yielding very soon”.
The proposed deal has been on the table since more than a week ago, after the meeting of US and Israeli spy chiefs with Egyptian and Qatari officials.
Hamas previously made it clear that any deal must bring a definitive end to the war. Israel said it will not end the war until Hamas is destroyed. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that all parties involved in the mediation process is studying the response of Hamas to the proposed deal.
In a statement, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad said that, “Hamas’s reply has been conveyed by the Qatari mediator to the Mossad. Its details are being thoroughly evaluated by the officials involved in the negotiations”, as per Netanyahu’s office.
According to Al Jazeera, sources close to the mediation talks said that the truce would last for at least 40 days, during which the Palestinian fighters would free the civilians among the remaining hostages under their captive. Further phases would follow the civilian exchange, to hand over the Israeli soldiers and corpses of hostages, in exchange of release of the Palestinians in the Israeli jail.
The only truce, since the beginning of the brutal aggression was in November last year, which was for four days and later extended to one week. During that truce, Hamas released 110 hostages in exchange for the 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail.
