Many of the Hamas hostages can only be recovered dead. But the bloodshed in the Gaza war continues. The mediators are pushing hard for a solution. Is an agreement still attainable?
Accompanied by growing skepticism, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is continuing his intensive efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. After talks in Israel, he traveled to Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating with the US in indirect talks on an agreement between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas, but ended his trip without any concrete results. According to a media report, the hoped-for agreement is in danger of failing without an immediate alternative. Meanwhile, the dangerous conflict on Israel’s northern border continued to escalate. The Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel’s air force again attacked targets in each other’s country.
Blinken: Do everything to get Hamas on board
As he left Doha, Blinken told journalists: “We must get the ceasefire and hostage release agreement across the finish line.” Time is of the essence because the lives of the Hamas hostages are in greater danger every day. In addition, the people in Gaza are suffering every day, said the US Secretary of State. All mediators are committed to preventing further escalation in the region. Qatar and Egypt are in direct contact with Hamas to reach an agreement. “In the next few days, we will do everything possible to get Hamas on board with the bridging proposal,” he said. After that, the two sides must agree on further details.
Blinken said in Israel on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted the latest US-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in a “very constructive meeting.” It was a “bridging proposal” based on a plan presented by US President Joe Biden in May. It was now up to Hamas to agree to the proposal.
Hamas: USA tolerates Netanyahu’s new demands
However, Hamas accused the US of having bowed to Israel’s conditions with the latest bridging proposal. Washington was thus tolerating new demands from Netanyahu. Hamas will not negotiate new conditions, its spokesman Osama Hamdan told the German Press Agency. It should only be about implementing the plan presented by Biden in May. Blinken, on the other hand, said that the “bridging plan” only contained “clarifications and details” with regard to the original plan.
Biden’s three-phase plan initially envisages a six-week ceasefire. During this period, a specific group of hostages would be released. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the next phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released. In a final phase, the draft would begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Media: Netanyahu still not ready to withdraw from strategic locations
At a meeting with relatives of hostages, Netanyahu said, according to media reports, that it was not certain that there would be a deal with Hamas. The head of government also declared that he was still not prepared to withdraw from the strategically important buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and the Nezarim Corridor, which divides the Gaza Strip into a northern and a southern section. However, Hamas insists on a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip as a condition for a ceasefire. Critics accuse Netanyahu of blocking an agreement because he would fear the collapse of his government coalition if concessions were made to Hamas.After the visit to Israel, Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to the state information service SIS, Al-Sisi said that a ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of a broader recognition of a Palestinian state in order to guarantee stability in the region.
A report by the US news portal Politico, citing two US and two Israeli officials, sees the agreement on the verge of failure without there being a clear, direct alternative.
If mediation efforts fail, there are fears of a major escalation in the region. After the killing of two high-ranking enemies of Israel in Tehran and Beirut almost three weeks ago, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah threatened massive retaliatory strikes.
Israeli army recovers bodies of six hostages
The Israeli army said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night. The remains of six men aged between 35 and 80 were found in a tunnel in Khan Yunis in the south of the coastal strip. Relatives of the hostages made serious accusations against the government because their loved ones were not rescued alive from hostage captivity.
According to Israeli figures, Hamas now has 109 hostages in its power. 36 of them have been declared dead, 73 are still considered alive, according to an Israeli government spokeswoman.
“The days go by and we are losing more and more hostages. We have to make a deal. We have to. Now,” wrote Israel’s opposition leader Jair Lapid on the Platform X.
Attacks and fighting in the Gaza Strip continue
According to Palestinian media reports, ten people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school building in the city of Gaza. According to Palestinian sources, the target of the bombing was a school building that was supposedly used to house displaced people. Israel’s army announced that Hamas had hidden a command center on the site. This was the target of the attack.
According to Israeli military sources, dozens of Palestinian militants were killed in heavy fighting in the south of the Gaza Strip. In the area of the city of Rafah, “around 40 terrorists were eliminated in close combat and strikes by the Israeli air force,” the army said in a statement. The military wing of Hamas announced that its fighters had fired grenades at an Israeli tank and soldiers in a building in the area.
The Gaza war was triggered by the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremists from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel on October 7. Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were abducted into the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 40,173 people have been killed since then in the sealed-off coastal area.
New rocket salvos on Israel from Lebanon
According to Israeli military sources, dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, announced that it had fired an “intense salvo of rockets” at Israeli military positions. It was a response to Israeli attacks on Monday in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, in which at least eight people were injured. The army said it had attacked Hezbollah weapons depots.
According to Lebanese reports, the Israeli Air Force carried out another attack in the Bekaa Valley during the night. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least one person was killed and sixteen others were injured. According to Lebanese reports, four people were killed and two others injured in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. Three Hezbollah fighters were among the dead, according to Lebanese security sources.
There are concerns that the situation could escalate further and lead to a larger war. Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant said that the “center of gravity” was gradually shifting from the Gaza Strip to the northern border.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
