“AND It is true that representatives from Israel, the United States of America, Egypt and Qatar met in Paris and reached a consensus among themselves on the general guidelines,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on the television station American CNN, referring to a possible agreement for the release of hostages and a temporary ceasefire.

“I’m not going to go into details because they are still being negotiated,” he said.

According to Sullivan, there will have to be room for indirect negotiations between Qatar, Egypt and Hamas because, ultimately, they will have to agree to the release of hostages.

“We hope that in the coming days we can reach a point where there is, in fact, a solid and final agreement on this issue,” he declared.

Egyptian sources had already told the EFE news agency this morning that negotiations in Paris for a truce between Israel and Hamas “had a positive result” and are “at an advanced stage”.

“The talks have reached a positive result and a meeting point during which a relatively long truce of up to six weeks will be declared,” said the sources, who asked not to be identified.

The agreement includes, in a first phase, the release of 30 hostages held by Hamas since the group’s attack on Israel on October 7, in exchange for 300 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

“Furthermore, in this first phase, there will be a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza […]then other phases will follow until the release of all hostages held by Hamas”, the sources added.

During this first phase of the truce, “negotiations will address issues such as the future of Gaza, the two-state solution and the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations”, they also indicated.

The sources attributed the “positive development” to “concessions made by Hamas representatives regarding many of their demands.”

Israeli media outlets revealed on Friday “significant progress” in the Paris talks that involved representatives from Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but warned that there is still a long way to go.

Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, confirmed to the Israeli press on Saturday that Israel’s war cabinet would be informed in the following hours about what was discussed in Paris and also said that “it will be possible to make progress.”

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas was triggered by the Islamist movement’s attack on Israeli territory on October 7.

That day, around 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, but also close to 400 soldiers, according to the most recent official Israeli figures. Around 240 civilians and military personnel were kidnapped, with Israel indicating that more than 100 remain in the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas since 2007.

In retaliation, Israel, which promised to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, has since been bombing the Gaza Strip, where, according to the local government led by Hamas, more than 29,000 people have been killed, most of them women, children and teenagers.

Read Also: Truce between Hamas and Israel is at an “advanced stage”, confirms Egypt

Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2509041/alcancado-meio-termo-nas-negociacoes-para-tregua-com-hamas-dizem-eua

Leave a Reply