Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, president of Egypt proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israelis for Palestinian prisoners as negotiations to end the yearlong war resumed in Qatar’s capital, Doha, reports AP.
Confirming the matter, the president on Sunday said that negotiations would continue to make the cease-fire permanent.
He added, “The proposal includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza. It aims to “move the situation forward.”
However, there was no immediate response from Israel or Hamas as the latest talks were expected in Qatar, another key mediator.
Talks in pursuit of a longer, phased cease-fire have repeatedly stalled. Hamas wants Israeli forces out of Gaza as a precondition, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said they will remain until destroying Hamas. There hasn’t been a cease-fire since November’s weeklong pause in fighting in the earliest weeks of the war.
Israel’s Mossad chief was traveling to Doha on Sunday for talks with Qatar’s prime minister and the CIA chief in the latest attempt to end the fighting and ease regional tensions that have built since October 7, 2023.
Those tensions now see Israel at war with both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and openly attacking Iran, their backer, for the first time this weekend. Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday said Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “not every goal can be achieved through only military operations,” adding that “painful compromises will be required” to return the hostages.
However, protesters disrupted Netanyahu’s speech, shouting “Shame on you.” Israelis blame him for the security failures that led to the attack and hold him responsible for not yet bringing hostages home.
Inside Gaza, the latest Israeli strikes in the north killed at least 53 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said, as an offensive in the hard-hit and isolated area entered a third week. The UN secretary-general called the plight of Palestinians there “unbearable.” Israel said it targeted militants.
Bd-Pratidin English/ Afsar Munna
