By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK- On Monday, Hamas told the press that any ceasefire plan for Gaza must follow U.S. President Joe Biden’s original framework and proposal that he presented in a televised speech on May 30 from the White House. On Sunday night, Hamas called on mediators “to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on [President Joe] Biden’s vision and the U.N. Security Council resolution.” Leaders from the UK, France and Germany recently issued a joint call for talks to resume immediately, stating there “can be no further delay.” Meanwhile, international mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S., urged Israel and Hamas last week to reopen “urgent” discussions on August 15, on the ceasefire and hostage deal. The mediators said they are ready to offer a bridging proposal to get past any differences on implementing President Biden’s framework agreement. On August 8, Israel said it would send a negotiating team while according to the BBC, Hamas is open to resuming talks from the point prior to where the new conditions were introduced – they have rejected any new proposals.
Meanwhile, on August 12 in a joint statement, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeated the call for talks to resume immediately. The statement read in part: “We agree that there can be no further delay,” continuing,
“We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability.” The leaders also urged for and called on all parties to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East that have spread since Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran. According to sources, its understood that Hamas despite calling for a full ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza initially, had dropped its demand for a full ceasefire in order to move negotiations forward. Hamas sources told the BBC that .two major blocks to any ceasefire-hostage deal include Israel’s demand that displaced Palestinians undergo mandatory screening upon return to northern Gaza and the decision about who will control the Philadelphi corridor bordering Egypt.
On Sunday night, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that he ordered deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East that will join the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, heading to the region due to rising tensions across the Mideast and Iran’s planned retaliation against Israel for the killing of Haniyeh. Iran said that it plans a response at the “right time” and in an “appropriate” manner against Israel, it also blames the U.S. for Haniyeh’s death because of its support for Israel. Israel has come under scrutiny from the U.S. and its allies for its recent bombings of hospitals and schools that killed over 100 Palestinians and wounded numerous others. Israel has justified the strikes as necessary, claiming the schools and hospitals “served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility.” The sites Israel has been targeting are protected under international law while Hamas has continually denied using such protected sites as headquarters for its activities. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told the press that “various intelligence indications” suggest a “high probability” that the commander of Islamic Jidhad’s Camps Brigade was at one of the schools, Israel struck.
Photo : AA
