The capital of Qatar, a country that simultaneously sponsors Hamas and hosts a North American military base, is now the center of negotiations over the extension of the ceasefire, which will end this Wednesday if nothing else is agreed. Israel is at this stage interested in retrieving all civilian women and minors, although the goal is to rescue all hostages. That is why the head of the Israeli secret services, as well as the director of the CIA, are in Doha to negotiate how they will proceed. unfold over the next few hours. With the ten Israeli hostages released this Tuesday, there are a total of 60 (or 61 if you count the Israeli-Russian man released separately from the ceasefire treaty) out of a total of 93 that Israeli services believe have been kidnapped. for men, military women and foreigners.
Negotiations are taking place in Qatar for the release of more hostages. After a Qatari delegation had been in Tel Aviv in recent days, it was the turn of David Barnea, head of the Mossad, to go to the small Persian Gulf state.
His American counterpart, William Burns, also went to Doha. The former US ambassador to Jordan, the CIA director, visited the region early this month to discuss talks on the release of the hostages. Burns has the trust of President Biden as well as the respect of Barnea and many individuals in the Middle East, a White House official assures the The Washington Post.
Whether it will be enough to extend the pause in the war will be known in the coming hours. The talks, which are taking place with Qatari mediators, aim to secure the release of the hostages for the two additional days of the ceasefire and to extend the temporary ceasefire for more days, to guarantee the release of all women and children captured held by the terrorist group. in Gaza.
One of the problems may have to do with the whereabouts of the prisoners. In statements to Financial times Published Sunday, Qatar’s Prime Minister (and head of diplomacy), Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said Hamas acknowledged it did not know the location of about 40 women and minors. According to the BBC, in addition to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and two other groups, the Mujahideen Brigades and the al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, also claim to have ferims in their control.
The lead analyst on the team studying the Salafist and jihadist phenomenon at the Critical Threats Project, Brian Carter, has no difficulty believing that Hamas is unaware of the whereabouts of these hostages, he told Business Insider. Also in this publication, Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the NGO Counter Extremism Project, emphasizes the layers of complexity associated with the fact that Hamas is not the one holding all the hostages in captivity. As a result, he will not be able to “simply order the transfer of these hostages,” forcing him to engage in “internal Palestinian negotiations” to retrieve hostages from other groups. This is the most complex hostage situation I have ever seen, not only because of the number of hostages, but also because of the number of groups that have hostages, and those groups do not answer to Hamas,” Schindler said.
A few days ago the Wall Street Journal had reported that Islamic Jihad demanded the release of all Palestinian prisoners before releasing the hostages. A claim that was rejected last Tuesday, when the armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, announced the transfer of “a certain number of detained civilians”.
A second goal of the negotiations is to discuss the possibility of an agreement that could include hostages not covered by the current agreement, including men and possibly soldiers. “The current priority is the release of civilian hostages, women and children. Then the army will come,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said at a news conference.
With several American hostages still in captivity, Washington is pushing for the ceasefire to continue, and not just for another day or two. “We will continue to work toward an extension,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council. “That is without a doubt what we want. We want all the hostages to leave and this is the best way to get them out,” he said, emphasizing Joe Biden’s “fundamental role in making the deal happen.”
In addition to the CIA director, the head of diplomacy is also returning to the Middle East. Antony Blinken will be back in Israel and the West Bank before taking part in the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. In addition to the issue of the release of the abductees, Blinken will focus on continuing humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians on Palestinian territory, a source at the Secretariat of State predicted. This or another US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to reporters, said that “it is extremely important” that the offensive that Israel plans to launch in southern Gaza after the pause “must be carried out in a manner that is not intended to cause significant generate results. movement of people”.
The day was also marked by the violation of the ceasefire following a firefight in the north of the enclave, in which several Israeli soldiers were injured. In addition, the Israeli army identified three of its soldiers who were brought to the Gaza Strip by Hamas and who died on October 7.
The militias that joined Hamas
The October 7 terrorist attacks were not only the result of fighters from Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades. A total of eight armed gangs claimed to have taken part in the invasion of Israeli territory, three of which claimed to be holding hostages. A BBC investigation concluded that six armed groups were involved in the attack.
al-Quds Brigades
It is the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest Palestinian militia, and has been involved in numerous attacks and wars against Israel, the last of which was in the summer of 2022 when Hamas failed to intervene. As the name suggests, it is an Islamic movement like Hamas. Its presence in the West Bank has grown, especially in Nablus and Jenin, the latter region joining with other armed groups under the generic name Jenin Battalion.
Ali Abu Mustafa Brigades
It is the oldest of the groups, founded in 1967, then under the name Red Eagle Brigade, and renamed in 2001 in honor of one of the leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a secularist and far-left group . organization.
al-Qasim forces
In 1969, there was a split in the PFLP and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, with a Maoist tendency, was founded, and with it the armed group National Resistance Brigades, also known as Omar al-Qasim Forces.
al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades
It emerged during the second Intifada in the early 2000s as an association of several armed groups linked to Fatah, although it was never officially recognized by Yasser Arafat’s movement. From the West Bank, the country infiltrated the Gaza Strip, where it has no problems working with Islamist groups.
Mujahedin Brigades
They respond to the Palestinian Mujahideen movement. They claim to have hostages, as do the al-Quds Brigades and the al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades (which the BBC has not identified as having participated on October 7).
Source: DN
