A Qatari official mentioned the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has given “initial positive confirmation” to a proposal for a humanitarian pause in Gaza and the discharge of hostages, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Thursday.
U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli intelligence officers in Paris on Sunday the place they proposed a six-week pause within the Gaza conflict and a hostage-prisoner alternate for Hamas to overview.
“That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas’ side,” Majed al-Ansari advised an viewers at a Washington-based graduate faculty.
A Hamas supply mentioned, nevertheless, that there was nonetheless no consensus on the proposal.
“There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet… and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true,” the supply advised AFP in Gaza.
The Qatari international ministry spokesman mentioned there was “still a very tough road in front of us.”
“We are optimistic because both sides now agreed to the premise that would lead to a next pause,” mentioned Ansari.
“We’re hopeful that in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be able to share good news about that,” he added.
The Qatar-based chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was anticipated in Cairo on Thursday or Friday for talks on a proposed truce.
Previously, Qatar mediated a one-week break in combating that started in November and led to the discharge of scores of Israeli and international hostages, in addition to help coming into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Following the deadliest assault in Israel’s historical past, its army launched a withering air, land and sea offensive that has killed no less than 27,000 folks in Gaza, most of them girls and youngsters, in keeping with the well being ministry.
A Hamas supply advised AFP the three-stage plan would begin with an preliminary six-week halt to the combating that might see extra help deliveries into the Gaza Strip.
Only “women, children and sick men over 60” held by Hamas could be freed throughout that stage in alternate for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the supply mentioned, requesting anonymity as a result of sensitivity of the talks.
There would even be “negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces”, with potential further phases involving extra hostage-prisoner exchanges, mentioned the supply, including the territory’s rebuilding was additionally amongst points addressed by the deal.
Abbas meets Qatar’s emir
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani mentioned for the consecutive second day on Thursday world efforts to implement a cease-fire within the Gaza Strip, which is presently underneath siege and topic to intensified assaults by Israeli forces.
According to a press release launched by Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the 2 leaders mentioned “the latest developments as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (and) the joint bilateral and Arab action” to finish the Israeli conflict on Gaza.
They additionally mentioned pursuing a political path that ensures “the end of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state in accordance with international law.”
Qatar has been serving as a significant mediator between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas, making an attempt to succeed in a brand new cease-fire settlement to finish the devastating conflict on the Gaza Strip.
Source: www.dailysabah.com