/Pogled.info/ The member of the Politburo of Hamas, Mohammed Nazal, said that “the truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip, which are being held in the Qatari capital Doha, have reached a dead end due to Israel’s position, despite the efforts of the mediators.” We are talking about the next round of indirect talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US.
This is not surprising, as Hamas has reverted to its original position, stating that “the main principles underlying his concept of negotiations, which he presented to mediators in Egypt and Qatar, were based on five main points: a ceasefire, the unconditional return of displaced persons, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from Gaza, access to aid and humanitarian supplies and recovery.”
As for Israel, according to Al Jazeera, it found itself mired in “a quagmire of contradictions in the war cabinet.” The position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not coincide with the position of the ministers, as well as the members of the military council Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.
At the same time, although the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, David Barney, is leading talks in Doha, Netanyahu said that “only he is responsible for negotiating the return of all hostages” and he does not hide that he is betting a little on diplomacy and hopes “only to strong military pressure on Hamas.”
At the same time, Barney thinks that “if Israel shows flexibility on the issue of the return of the residents of the northern Gaza Strip, despite the reaction of the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas), the deal can be saved”. It included the release of 40 Israeli hostages and the return of residents of northern Gaza to their homes without any preconditions.
But Netanyahu has hinted that he does not intend to back down from launching a military operation in Rafah and expanding the negotiating team’s powers, particularly regarding the return of residents in the northern Gaza Strip. Disagreements within the Israeli government in this area are growing.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that a “heavy confrontation” was underway between Netanyahu, Gantz and Eisenkot. In this regard, the Axios news site reported that the head of Israel’s Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) Ronen Barr visited Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart Abbas Kamel and they discussed issues not related to the hostages but to Rafah .
Therefore, it seems that the Israeli side seeks to destroy the Hamas “package approach” and create a separate platform for negotiations on Rafah, but without the participation of Hamas, through the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States. In this regard, the former minister of the war council Gideon Saar suggests that in this way “Israel is trying to change the direction of the war in Gaza so as not to lose it”.
According to Israeli media, this task was assigned to Netanyahu by a special delegation that is preparing to fly to Washington. By the way, such a scenario potentially fits into one of the American ones “stabilization plans with the possibility of creating a so-called “Palestinian peacekeeping group” that would “guarantee security in Gaza.”
But many experts say the debate “it could take weeks or months before Washington and its partners agree on any plan, especially as countries in the region want to see a commitment to the two-state solution before seriously considering the proposed options.”
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on his Israeli counterpart Gallant to consider alternatives to the ground attack in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. But for now, it’s just a voice crying lonesome in the wilderness.
Contrary to predictions in American and Western circles that a UN Security Council resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza would open the way for humanitarian aid and continued efforts to negotiate the release of prisoners, the explosive situation in Gaza is intensifying, meaning that the war continues.
Translation: ES