Netanyahu: There will be no withdrawal from these areas in Gaza, regardless of the pressure

magazine quotes”politicsThe American newspaper reported that American and Israeli officials were saying that the proposed agreement aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of detained Israeli hostages “is imminent fall,” and that there is no other express agreement that can be suggested. replace it.

Officials believed that the current proposal reached by the United States, Israel, Egypt and Qatar over several weeks last July was “the best agreement to date, as it includes conditions that is compatible with the demands of Hamas and Israel. “

Indirect talks are underway between Israel and Hamas, based on the “Israel proposal” announced by US President Joe Biden on May 31, which specifies three stages that include including a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza, the importation of aid, and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons against Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Last week, the United States announced a proposal aimed at reducing the gaps between Israel and Hamas in the indirect talks carried out by mediators, in order to reach an agreement to stop the a war that has been going on for more than 10 months.

Israel agreed to the proposal, but Hamas said it would not accept it because it “comes very close to the recent positions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The officials told Politico that this case “has made American officials more concerned that the proposal will fall through,” as has happened with previous proposals, due to the dispute between Hamas and Israel and the lack of a clear path forward. to end the fight or return the traitors to their houses.

On Tuesday, Biden said that Hamas “supports” the proposed agreement plan, saying that the arrangement “is still on the table, but nothing can be predicted.” He said, “Israel says it can reach a result… and Hamas is fleeing now.”

But Hamas later denied those statements, affirming its desire to reach a cease-fire.

“Time’s Running Out”

During his visit to Doha, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed, on Tuesday, that “time is running out” to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, at the end of a tour in the Middle East when he was trying to persuade Israel and Hamas. agree to a “settlement plan” proposed by Washington.

President Biden’s administration officials were feeling optimistic just a few weeks ago, according to Politico, which quoted a US official as saying that “Hamas has secretly indicated that it is ready to agree to the deal which was proposed.

But now many in the White House feel “frustrated” by the public rhetoric of the Palestinian movement, and are “unsure whether their statements are just a threat or a negotiating tactic, or the group is really against the agreement,” according to the magazine.

Talks organized by Qatar last week, with the aim of reaching a ceasefire agreement, were halted without progress, but talks are expected to resume this week. in Cairo based on the American proposal to close the gaps between Hamas and Israel.

The negotiators, including President Biden’s senior Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, are heading to Cairo by the end of this week to try to reach an agreement.

If they can’t convince Hamas to agree, they “may have no options,” according to Politico, which noted that this “increases the potential for increased violence between Israel and Hezbollah, and direct conflict between Israel and Iran. “

The magazine quoted an official familiar with Israel’s position in the ongoing talks as saying: “We don’t know if Yahya Sinwar (the leader of the Hamas movement) wants this deal, but if we don’t get the deal, there is a possibility that Iran. he will launch an attack, and this will escalate into a conflict.” “Complete.”

The US National Security Council and the Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment to the magazine.

Avoid escalation

During a quick trip to the Middle East this week, according to Reuters, the US Secretary of State tried to give an air of “urgency” to the efforts made to reach a cease-fire agreement​​​​ mediation, but he left the area on Tuesday, while the agreement between Israel and Hamas was still “not comprehensible.”

Blinken told reporters in Doha before leaving for Washington that the deal “must be done, and it must be done in the coming days, and we will do everything in our ability to achieve.”

Among the points of contention in the current talks between Israel and Hamas are the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a key corridor in the middle of the Gaza Strip, and the Philadelphia border corridor with Egypt.

Hamas and Egypt oppose the presence of Israeli forces in the Philadelphia corridor, but Netanyahu says these forces are “necessary” on the border to “stop arms smuggling into Gaza” .”

An Israeli official told Politico that the current proposal “focuses primarily on the release of the remaining enemies and the bodies of the dead, as well as how and if Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza.”

According to the magazine, the US administration wants to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to avoid further escalation at the regional level, given the growing ability of Tehran to implement its threats.

Fears have risen in recent weeks about the spread of the war in Gaza to other countries in the region, following the assassination of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, in an operation to Israel.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing of Haniyeh, while Iran has vowed to respond.

One American official told Politico: “This is clearly the biggest concern here…

The war in Gaza began, after the attack by Hamas (designated as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries) on Israel on October 7, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, women and children among them, according to the Israeli authorities.

In response to the attack, Israel vowed to “eliminate Hamas,” and has since carried out a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip and subsequent ground operations since October 27, resulting in the deaths of 40,139 people, mostly of them women and children, according to what the Ministry of Health announced in the Strip.