In New York, a proposed resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in the United Nations Security Council was postponed again at the request of the US, while “very serious discussions and negotiations” take place on a new hostage treaty for prisoners and more humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip, although this is unlikely to be achieved quickly, if the US President’s statements are to be believed. In between, the head of diplomacy argued that the international community should pressure Hamas to surrender.

A day after Israel’s President Isaac Herzog announced that his country was open to a second pause in the war and held Hamas’s leadership responsible if it did not materialize, the Islamic organization’s political leader, Ismail Haniyah, to Cairo. He will hold meetings in Egypt’s capital with diplomats from that country to negotiate a new ceasefire.

According to a source interviewed by Reuters, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, “intensive talks” are underway about a new ceasefire. The type of hostages and prisoners that could be included in the exchange agreement will form the basis of the dialogue. However, Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera that he was not interested in releasing the hostages so that the war could resume immediately.

In a cabled statement, the President of the United States said he did not expect an agreement to be reached quickly, although Joe Biden said his country is pushing for this to happen.

In short, the National Security Council spokesperson confirmed the existence of “very serious discussions and negotiations,” which he hopes “will lead somewhere.” John Kirby spoke to journalists on board the presidential plane and also commented on the number of deaths in Gaza – more than 20,000. “No number of innocent civilians killed or injured is acceptable, and should not be acceptable to anyone, and that is why we will continue to work with the Israelis to be more precise, targeted and effective in their military operations. The number of civilian casualties is zero,” he said.

The spokesperson said Tel Aviv “welcomed the concerns” of the US, “was responsive and adjusted its military operations to try to reduce civilian casualties,” he assured.

However, the Israeli army spokesman confirmed that the aerial bombardment is expected to continue. “We will continue the attacks in Rafah targeting Hamas leaders,” Daniel Hagari said, leaving little room for the protection of civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that the “war will last until the end, until Hamas is eliminated.”

The diplomatic initiative of the United Arab Emirates, which aims to adopt a resolution for a ceasefire and also to urge Israel to stop controlling the access of humanitarian aid in Gaza in favor of the UN, was canceled upon request of the United States postponed again until this year. Thursday . Washington rejected expressions such as “end,” “pause” or “interruption” in reference to the fighting.

The US Secretary of State, who held talks with his counterparts from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, preferred to fire on Hamas. “We have heard many countries calling for an end to this conflict, which we would all like to see,” said Antony Blinken. “I hear virtually no one demanding that Hamas stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its weapons, that it surrender. This will end tomorrow if Hamas does this.”

Sánchez wants a united EU

The Spanish Prime Minister took stock of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and defended at the Congress of Deputies “that the time has come for the Union to speak clearly and with unity about what is happening in Israel and Palestine” . In the first days of the war, senior leaders in Brussels, and in particular the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, were accused of taking an uncritical attitude towards Netanyahu’s Israeli government and of maintaining a duality of criteria, for example, with regard to the response to the blockade of Gaza compared to the response to the Russian blockade of Ukraine.

Pedro Sánchez again defended the two-state solution and that his new director will do something about it. “I think that at some point in the legislature we will have to pay attention to the recognition of the Palestinian state by the Spanish parliament and the Spanish government,” he said.

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