Qatar reiterates that there are “diplomatic efforts” to agree on a new ceasefire in Gaza
Qatar confirmed on Saturday that “diplomatic efforts” are underway for a new agreement between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would allow the release of more hostage Palestinian prisoners. “Qatar reaffirmed its ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause and expressed its hope to build on the progress made to reach a comprehensive and sustainable agreement to end the war,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Qatar, a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has hoped that the new ceasefire will “stop the bloodshed of our Palestinian brothers and lead to serious negotiations and the start of a political process that will create a comprehensive, lasting and just peace.” The parties agreed – brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States – on November 24 to a ceasefire that allowed the release of 105 hostages (including 24 foreigners) for a week in return for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Although this has not been officially confirmed, Hebrew media suggests that the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, traveled to Doha to meet with the Qatari on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under increasing pressure from the hostages' families to meet intermediaries. After hearing the news of the three accidental deaths last night, hundreds of people, mostly relatives and friends of the hostages, spontaneously took to the streets of Tel Aviv to demand that the government come together to reach a new deal to release the rest Hostages to negotiate hostages. Kidnapped alive, estimated 129.
In addition, Israeli troops this week captured the bodies of five hostages killed in captivity during their ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. “Despite the serious catastrophe, no one from the War Cabinet spoke to the families, no one explained how to prevent the next catastrophe, no one,” Haim Rubinstein, spokesman for the Forum of Relatives of Kidnapped and Missing People in Israel, said today.
On December 2, a day after the seven-day ceasefire in Gaza expired, Netanyahu ordered his negotiating team in Qatar to return to Israel because talks over the release of more prisoners had reached a “stalemate.” (Efe)