A week after Sinwar’s death, Hamas, Israel and mediators resumed talks on a deal that had been suspended for two months. Blinken leaves the Middle East with cautious optimism.
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Antony Blinken ended his trip to the Middle East this Thursday and left the data set for the United States’ main objective in the region: a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas already met with Egyptian mediators in Cairo and showed “willingness to stop fighting.” The American and Israeli secret services are now meeting in Doha to resume talks for an agreement that have been paralyzed for two months.
CIA Director Will Burns will travel to Qatar over the weekend for the first meeting with the Israeli delegation and Egyptian and Qatari mediators, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios on Thursday afternoon. Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the meeting shortly afterwards and added that the Israeli delegation will once again be led by the Mossad director. “David Barnea will leave on Sunday to meet in Doha with the head of the CIA and the prime minister of Qatar. “The parties will discuss various options to resume negotiations to release the hostages from Hamas captivity following the latest developments,” the statement reads, cited by The Guardian.
[Já saiu o quarto episódio de “A Grande Provocadora”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que conta a história de Vera Lagoa, a mulher que afrontou Salazar, desafiou os militares de Abril e ridicularizou os que se achavam donos do país. Pode ouvir aqui, no Observador, e também na Apple Podcasts, no Spotify e no Youtube. E pode ouvir aqui o primeiro episódio, aqui o segundo e aqui o terceiro.]
“Recent events” refer to the death of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas, pointed out by the United States – and Israel – as responsible for the impasse, as Blinken stated on Tuesday, upon leaving Tel Aviv: “I think that with Sinwar dead , because he was the main obstacle to an agreement, there is a real opportunity.”
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has died. Netanyahu speaks of a “reckoning” and warns that “the war is not over yet”
On Thursday, at a joint press conference with the Qatari Foreign Minister, Hamas was put under pressure again. “What we really have to determine is whether Hamas is willing to participate. The fundamental question is: Is Hamas serious?” said Blinken, quoted by the New York Times.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed that The Qatari government has returned to contact with Hamas since Sinwar’s death.although there was little positive about a change in the Palestinian group’s position. “So far the path forward is not clear,” he warned.
Al Thani’s warnings proved justified. The Hamas negotiating team, led by Sinwar’s right-hand man Khalil al-Haya, met with the Egyptian secret services in Cairo on Thursday, where they discussed “proposals and ideas” to end the conflict. Leaving the meeting, a Hamas official told AFP that the group is ready to stop fightingbut he reaffirmed his demands, which remain unchanged since May, when Joe Biden presented the original proposal. “Israel must commit to a ceasefire, withdraw from the Gaza Strip, allow the return of displaced people, accept a serious prisoner exchange agreement and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza,” he insisted.
Relatives of hostages call for an agreement between the Israeli government and Hamas
The proposal that is on the table at this moment is far from this. Egypt proposed to Israel stop fighting for a short period of timeless than two weeks, in exchange for return of part of the 101 hostages who are still in Gaza. This week would be enough to do enter humanitarian aid in the Palestinian enclave and advance political negotiations, Axios reports, citing two Israeli officials.
Blinken stated that this idea “is worth exploring” in a meeting with relatives of the hostages on Tuesday. But the optimism that marked the North American mediation in May is now much more cautious. The Secretary of State concludes his diplomatic efforts this Friday with a meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said a US official, quoted by The Guardian. The same source adds that Blinken will also meet with the foreign ministers of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, separately.
Source: Observadora
