Gaza: The wording of a possible agreement on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip is ambiguous, so there are doubts that it will be able to lead to a permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Washington Post reported, citing informed diplomats.
Even if an agreement is reached, there are widespread doubts that it will lead to an end to the war in Gaza due to the ambiguity in its wording, the newspaper said.
According to the publication, the draft envisages that after Hamas releases most of the hostages, Israel and Hamas will enter into negotiations on a permanent ceasefire within the first six weeks of the ceasefire. However, the sources said that if Israel determined that the talks had failed, it could resume its military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Netanyahu was continuing to work to advance a Gaza deal that would maximize the number of hostages released, and was also insisting that the IDF remain in the corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
A joint statement by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, released by the office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, said that the mediators had presented Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas with a ceasefire proposal that narrowed the differences between the parties. According to the statement, the talks, which took place on Thursday and Friday in the Qatari capital of Doha, were serious and constructive, and proceeded in a positive atmosphere. The statement said senior government officials from Egypt, the United States and Qatar would meet in Cairo before the end of next week in hopes of reaching an agreement along the lines proposed on Friday.
