The United States stressed in Bahrain on Saturday the need for an agreement on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip to bring about a “significant” pause in fighting between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.
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The situation in the Palestinian territory, which has been under fire from Israel since October 7 in retaliation for an unprecedented attack by Hamas on its soil, is “terrible” and “unbearable”, recognized the first adviser to the American president on the Middle East, Brett McGurk.
But “the influx of humanitarian aid, the influx of fuel (and) a lull in the fighting will come when the hostages are released,” he added during the annual security forum organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
“Intense” discussions are underway with Qatar’s mediation to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack, he said.
AFP
According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died in this attack on the Israeli side, and the Israeli army estimates that around 240 people were taken hostage that day.
On the Palestinian side, the war claimed 12,300 lives, including more than 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government, which took power in Gaza in 2007.
“The release of a large number of hostages would (…) lead to a significant pause in fighting and a massive influx of humanitarian aid,” Brett McGurk promised, while several Arab diplomats speaking at the conference accused Israel of violating humanitarian aid of having violated international law.
The UN Security Council has called for “urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses”, but Israel rejects any ceasefire until all hostages are released.
“We must work towards the release of the hostages and the introduction of humanitarian breaks,” said a senior European official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
AFP
Opening the conference on Friday evening, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, whose country normalized relations with Israel in 2020, also called for the release of the hostages and an end to the conflict that threatens to set the region ablaze.
The continuation of the war is fueling extremism and criticism of “moderate” Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, which have ties to Israel, or Saudi Arabia, which have held talks in this direction, the diplomatic advisor emphasized Emirati President Anwar Gargash.
However, the head of Jordanian diplomacy, Ayman Safadi, considered it “unacceptable” to link the humanitarian pauses to the issue of hostages, since Israel has taken all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “hostage” while the humanitarian situation in the area is bad According to NGOs, catastrophic.
AFP
“Israel claims that it wants to destroy Hamas (…) I do not understand how this goal can be achieved,” he said, reiterating Arab countries’ calls for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations on a political solution for Israel -Palestinian conflict, based on the two-state principle.
For his part, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, estimated that “Hamas can no longer control the Gaza Strip” and reiterated that the Palestinian Authority is “ready to assume this responsibility with the help of the international community.”
This also requires “strong participation of Arab countries” both economically and politically, he added.
However, his Jordanian counterpart warned that “there will be no Arab troops in Gaza” and warned against any attempt to displace the population of the Palestinian territory, where more than two-thirds of the 2.4 million residents have already been displaced by the war. according to the UN.
Jordan and Egypt, which border Israel and with which they have a peace treaty, “will never allow this.” “This would not only be a war crime, but also a direct threat to our national security,” said Ayman Safadi.