Qatar confirmed this Saturday that diplomatic efforts are being made to reach a new agreement between Israel and Hamas with a view to a truce in the Gaza Strip that would allow the release of more hostages.
“Qatar affirmed continued diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause and expressed its hope to build on the progress made to reach a comprehensive and sustainable agreement to end the war,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Qatar, a mediating country between Israel and Hamas, hopes that the new truce will put an end to the “bloodshed” of the “Palestinian brothers and lead to serious negotiations and the launch of a political process that leads to a global, permanent and just peace.” .
The two sides reached an agreement – brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States – for a truce on November 24, which allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Although it has not been officially confirmed, Hebrew media indicate that Mossad chief David Barnea was in Doha to meet with Qatari mediators following orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is increasingly under pressure from the families of the hostages.
Following the news of the murder of three young Hamas hostages at the hands of the Israeli army, hundreds of people demonstrated in the streets of Tel Aviv to demand that the government meet to negotiate a new agreement to free the remaining hostages.
This week, Israeli troops found the bodies of five hostages killed in captivity during the ground offensive inside the Gaza Strip.
“Despite the serious catastrophe, no one from the war cabinet spoke to the families, no one explained how to avoid the next catastrophe, no one,” said Haim Rubinstein, spokesman for the group of relatives of people kidnapped and missing in Israel.
On December 2, a day after the seven-day truce in the Gaza Strip expired, Netanyahu ordered the return of the negotiating team in Qatar to Israel, believing that negotiations for the release of more hostages had reached an ” impasse”.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since the Palestinian Islamist group killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil on October 7, according to Tel Aviv authorities.
Israel declared a state of war and began a military operation by air, land and sea in the Palestinian enclave, where almost 18,800 people have died, according to Hamas health structures.
Considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Source: TSF
