Gaza Ceasefire Talks Stall as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
Mediators Push for Gaza Ceasefire Amid Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis
Efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to secure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza have so far fallen short, as the conflict stretches into its 23rd month and deepens a humanitarian crisis.
A Palestinian official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the latest proposal from mediators is a “framework agreement to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.” The plan calls for an initial 60-day truce and the staged release of hostages.
“Hamas will hold internal consultations with its leadership and other Palestinian factions to review the text,” the official added.
A source from Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group aligned with Hamas, said that the proposal outlines a 60-day ceasefire during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with several bodies.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the conflict, 49 remain in Gaza, including 27 whom the Israeli military says are deceased.
The Islamic Jihad source said the remaining captives would be released in a second phase, followed by immediate negotiations for a broader deal to end the war permanently, with international guarantees. “All factions are supportive of what was presented” by the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, the source added.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing on Monday, noted that Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was also on site “to consolidate our efforts and apply maximum pressure on both sides to reach a deal as soon as possible.”
Highlighting the humanitarian toll, Abdelatty described conditions for Gaza’s more than two million residents as dire. “The current situation on the ground is beyond imagination,” he said, echoing UN and aid agencies’ warnings of famine and worsening hardship.
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