Tension Peaks: Israel-Gaza Ceasefire on the Brink as US Mediates

Updated Wednesday 15 January 2025 11:0

As the warring parties were reportedly nearing an agreement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that ceasefire talks in Gaza were "right on the brink." In what was characterized as a "final round" of negotiations, envoys from the Biden White House and the incoming Trump administration met with representatives from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar on Tuesday.

Blinken said that negotiators were now awaiting Hamas's answer after Israel agreed to a deal. He remarked, "It's closer than it's ever been." "But, as we sit here now, we're waiting for Hamas to give us the final word on its acceptance, and until we do, we'll stay on the edge."

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Citing two unnamed sources who were involved in the negotiations, the Associated Press said Tuesday night that Hamas has agreed to the ceasefire and hostage-release draft agreement. The group has not officially verified that information, and an Israeli official informed the news agency that the agreement's specifics were still being worked out.

According to Israeli media and reports from the capital of Qatar, the deal would include a 60-day initial phase of a partial Israeli force pullout along with the initial release of 33 Israeli captives, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick, as well as up to 1,000 Palestinian inmates.

Earlier, Hamas declared that the negotiations were nearing their conclusion and expressed hope that a settlement would be struck. Although some issues still needed to be worked out, an Israeli official stated that the talks had reached a crucial stage: "We are close, we are not there yet." Islamic Jihad, a militant organization, announced that a high-level team would travel to Doha on Tuesday evening to participate in the last-minute negotiations for a ceasefire agreement.
Tuesday night, after more than eight hours of negotiations in Qatar, no deal had been finalized. According to a senior Hamas official who spoke to Reuters, his organization is awaiting paperwork from Israel that would provide further information on the region that a truce would cover. A spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry said early Tuesday that after both parties received a text, negotiations were underway to finalize the details.
The conflict that has ravaged Gaza, killing over 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-led health ministry, and uprooting millions more, was finally drawing to an end, raising hopes throughout the area. Residents of the beleaguered region voiced a range of feelings, including loss and suffering during the previous 15 months as well as optimism and worry for the future. Past experience has dampened optimism about the negotiations after previous apparent advances ultimately failed due to Hamas resistance inside Gaza or opposition from the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.
Despite claims that a truce is approaching, fighting in Gaza has persisted in recent days. At least 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings on homes in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials on Tuesday. According to local health experts, previous strikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, including two women and four children. One lady was pregnant, and the infant also perished.
In his farewell address to the Atlantic Council, Blinken presented a plan for a postwar agreement in which Israel would consent to a unified government of Gaza and the West Bank under a reformed Palestinian Authority. Israel has rejected those terms thus far. He also discussed the potential deployment of troops to stabilize security and ease the delivery of humanitarian relief, as well as the substantial involvement of the Arab world and the international community. Protesters repeatedly interrupted Blinken's address.

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