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17-08-2024
DOHA: The US says there has been a “promising start” to the new round of talks in Doha on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip, as the number of Palestinians reported killed in the war between Israel and Hamas surpassed 40,000.
An agreement is seen as key to stopping the 10-month conflict spiralling into an all-out regional war involving Iran, but expectations of a breakthrough are low.
White House spokesman John Kirby said “there remains a lot of work to do” to resolve gaps in the implementation of the framework agreement.
Hamas has said it will not participate in the indirect negotiations in Doha for now, although mediators are said to be relaying messages to the armed group’s officials based there.
It has called for a roadmap based on a proposal outlined by the US president and has accused Israel’s prime minister of adding new conditions, which he has denied.
Israeli media report that the country’s negotiating team has been given a slightly expanded mandate, while the relatives of hostages still held in Gaza are calling this the “last chance” to get some of them out alive.
The mediators face a number of potential sticking points, including control of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the return of displaced Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza. The talks were suspended after Hamas’s political leader and chief negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran at the end of July. Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement, raising fears of a wider escalation. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday that at least 40,005 people had been killed in the territory since then, which the UN human rights chief described as a “grim milestone for the world”.
The figure, which does not make a distinction between combatants and civilians, is often disputed by the Israeli government but is broadly accepted by UN agencies.
The Israeli military said it had “eliminated over 17,000 terrorists”. It has also reported that 330 of its troops have been killed since the ground invasion began.
Israel’s delegation to the Doha talks reportedly included the directors of its Mossad foreign intelligence agency and Shin Bet domestic security service, David Barnier and Ronen Bar, as well as the Israeli military’s hostage’s chief, Nitzan Alon.
CIA director William Burns joined them, along with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Qatari and Egyptian officials were also “mediating with Hamas” as part of the process, according to the US state department.
After the start of the discussions on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that they were likely to continue on Friday because of the complexity of the agreement.
Kirby stressed that they were not having a debate over the broad framework of the deal.
“We’re at a point where it’s generally accepted. Where the gaps are in the execution of the deal, the individual muscle-movements that go with putting the deal in place,” he explained, without providing any details.
He added: “The remaining obstacles can be overcome, and we must bring this process to a close.” The first phase of the proposed deal outlined by US President Joe Biden at the end of May would include a “full and complete ceasefire” lasting six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
