People search for salvageable items after an Israeli attack in Rafah’s al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, June 29.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
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Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
TEL AVIV, Israel – A new round of talks to end the Gaza war will begin Thursday, with Egypt, Qatar and the United States acting as mediators between Israel and Hamas.
The war has entered its 11th month and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. It began after a Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel last October that killed around 1,200 people.
This round of negotiations is based on a three-phase proposal President Biden is laid out in a national speech on May 31 called for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and prisoners and the reconstruction of Gaza. It’s a plan that White House officials say Hamas has accepted and Israel has supported.
“It’s time for this war to end, and the next day to begin,” Biden said.
But in the more than 10 weeks since the proposal was announced, several rounds of talks have ended in impasse. Both sides remain far apart on some issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas for blocking the negotiations. But The New York Times reported Tuesday the documents show that Netanyahu is inflexible in the new talks, adding new conditions to his demands. Netanyahu has denied the reports.
Last week, the mediators called for “urgent” new talks, in an attempt to jump-start stalled negotiations.
“There is no more time for waste or excuses from the parties for further delay,” a the statement of the mediator said. “It is time to release the hostages, start a ceasefire, and implement this agreement.”
What was the talk like?
The talks will take place in Doha, Qatar, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators are expected to attend, including CIA chief William Burns and US envoy Brett McGurk.
Israel has agreed to participate in the talks, but Hamas spokesman Suhail al-Hindi told NPR the group will not participate in it. He said that Hamas had responded to the US-backed plan with a counter-proposal on July 2, and that if Israel acted on the proposal, Hamas was ready to start implementing the agreement.
What is the main sticking point between the two?
The original proposal presented by Biden in May involved three phases, the first of which would last six weeks and include a “full and complete ceasefire,” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the main populated areas of Gaza, and their release. of some approximately 110 Israeli hostages remaining in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.
The two sides will then use the six-week period to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, including the release of all remaining hostages and Israel’s total withdrawal from Gaza. Ideally, the US has suggested, the temporary ceasefire will become permanent.
Protesters hold signs and smoke torches during a demonstration calling for a hostage deal and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government on August 10.
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Amir Levy // Getty Images
But Israel and Hamas disagree on how long the truce should last. Israel wants the ability to continue fighting if Hamas prolongs ceasefire talks without reaching an agreement. Hamas instead wants to end the guaranteed war.
There are other unresolved disputes, including whether Israel can screen Palestinian civilians returning to northern Gaza to block armed militants, the number of Israeli hostages who are still alive to be released, the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who will be released, and who will have control over the Philadelphi Corridor – a strip of land along the Gaza border with Egypt that Israel took control of in the May attack to Rafah.
Mediation parties have downplayed the difference, calling it “only implementation details“and said they are ready with a final proposal bridging the remaining issues, if necessary.
What are the stakes?
For the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza in increasingly humiliating conditions, with daily casualties from Israeli airstrikes, and Israeli hostages still in captivity, the stakes could not be higher.
But added to this round of talks is additional pressure, after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut, leaving Israel to take revenge on Iran and its proxies.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire for more than 10 months of war, and the Iran-backed group has long said it will stop firing on Israel when a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
President Biden and world leaders have called on Iran to back down from threats to attack Israel, fearing a regional war and the breakdown of Gaza ceasefire talks. The US hopes the Gaza ceasefire deal will convince Iran to keep up the fire.
NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi contributed to this report from Tel Aviv. Michele Kelemen contributed from Washington, DC
