Gaza: Ceasefire talks in full swing

According to media reports, senior representatives of Israel and the US government are traveling to Qatar for ongoing talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza war. The head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, is expected in Doha on Monday, the news site “Ynet” reported. In addition, a correspondent for the US news site “Axios” wrote that the White House’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, had also traveled to the Qatari capital. Meanwhile, Israel is reportedly trying, with US support, to extend the soon-to-expire ceasefire agreed with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia at the end of November.

The dispatch of negotiators to Doha could mean that a possible agreement in talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas comes closer. However, such signs of hope have appeared several times in recent months without any breakthrough being achieved.

Even if this were to happen, implementation would also be extremely complicated. This is shown by the ceasefire agreed with Hezbollah in Lebanon on November 27th and initially valid until January 26th. Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Sunday, according to the Times of Israel, that the Jewish state could be “forced to act” because Hezbollah is not honoring the agreement.

The new round of negotiations on the situation in Gaza, which began on Friday at a medium level with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the USA, is running at full speed, wrote “Ynet”. On Saturday, the publication of another hostage video by Hamas increased the pressure on the Israeli government. Once again, thousands of Israelis took to the streets to demand a deal to release all hostages and end the war. “Ynet” wrote that Barnea is expected to join the talks on Monday. An unnamed Palestinian official spoke of a “decisive day.”

According to unconfirmed reports, Israel has submitted a list of names of 34 living hostages who must be released in a first phase. A Hamas representative told the DPA news agency that his organization had not yet finally approved this list. At the same time, he emphasized that Hamas had also presented a list of 34 hostages, although without saying whether they were alive or dead. The Israeli side contradicted this representation.

Hamas is still waiting for a written guarantee from the USA that Israel is committed to a permanent end to the fighting and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Hamas representative told the DPA. The issues of the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Gaza Strip in half, and from the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt were still being discussed, as was the return of the displaced people to the northern Gaza Strip. But they could be resolved by a declaration of a final cessation of war and a gradual Israeli withdrawal during the term of the agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected these demands.

Hamas is also waiting for an answer from Israel regarding the Palestinians imprisoned in Israel to be exchanged for the hostages. The Islamists claim to have already handed over such a list. It is also controversial where Palestinian prisoners should be released. Israel only wants to release prisoners it considers particularly dangerous into exile, which Hamas rejects.

While a ceasefire is still being fought for in the Gaza war, a pause in fighting in the conflict between Israel and the Hamas-allied Hezbollah militia came into force six weeks ago – which could now possibly be extended. This is intended to prevent the war from flaring up again immediately after the deadline on January 26th or from the ceasefire being ended prematurely, reports the “Jerusalem Post”.

The newspaper relies on information from an Israeli government representative. Accordingly, Prime Minister Netanyahu held a meeting with his security advisors on Sunday afternoon to decide how to proceed.

US mediator Amos Hochstein is expected to attend talks in Lebanon on Monday. One of his advisers told the Jerusalem Post that Hochstein would chair the first regular meeting of the committee, which is supposed to check whether the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in effect since November, is actually being adhered to.

Despite isolated violations, the ceasefire has largely held so far. However, Israel’s Defense Minister Katz points out that several points of the underlying agreement have not yet been implemented. Hezbollah has not withdrawn its fighters from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army has not yet dismantled all weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the border area.

The ceasefire deal, which came into force on November 27th and is initially scheduled to last two months, contains several agreements. Among other things, the Hezbollah fighters should withdraw behind the Litani River around 30 kilometers north of the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Israeli armed forces should leave the neighboring country. At the same time, the Lebanese army should increase its presence in the border area in order to fill the resulting vacuum.

“Unless there is any more big surprise,” the Lebanese army will not fully fulfill this task within the 60-day ceasefire, said the Israeli government official quoted by the Jerusalem Post. This in turn means that Israel’s army must remain stationed there longer in order to prevent Hezbollah from returning. The US government has already been informed of this.

Israel has no interest in a failure of the ceasefire, writes the Jerusalem Post. Since the end of November, Hezbollah has committed isolated violations of the agreement on the Lebanese side of the border. Israeli territory, which was hit by dozens or even hundreds of rockets per day before the ceasefire, has not been fired upon since then.