ROME (ITALPRESS) – Hamas mediators and envoys have made “significant progress” towards a truce in Gaza. This was reported by Egyptian state television as the talks in Cairo enter their second day.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have pushed for a ceasefire in the nearly five-month war between Israel and Hamas. Israel did not send a negotiating team to Cairo after receiving an unsatisfactory response from Hamas on the latest framework drawn up in Paris last weekend.
The Palestinian organization has refused to respond to Jerusalem’s request to provide a list of living hostages and to set the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for each hostage released, an Israeli official said.
An unnamed Hamas official told the Wall Street Journal that while there is slow progress toward an agreement on a temporary ceasefire and hostage deal, it appears unlikely to be reached before the start of Ramadan on the 10th March, and instead it could be completed by the end of the month, i.e. the first weekend of the Muslim holy month.
Egyptian and Qatari officials say there has been no contact with Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar for at least a week.
Anonymous officials quoted by “Channel 12”, “Ynet” and other Israeli media said that Jerusalem suspects that Sinwar has no intention of reaching an agreement in the coming days and hopes to intensify violence during Ramadan. In such a scenario, Israel fears an escalation not only along the borders with Gaza and Lebanon, but also in the West Bank, where tension is high, as well as in Jerusalem, where clashes over the Temple Mount and access to sacred sites are widely anticipated.
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
