Gaza-Israel ceasefire talks: What Netanyahu’s US go to and Trump’s truce proposal actually imply | EUROtoday

A proposal for a badly wanted ceasefire in Gaza shall be high of the agenda throughout a key go to between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump this week.

After months of impasse and a hovering dying toll in Gaza, a possible breakthrough appeared when Trump introduced a proposal for a 60-day truce, which he stated might pave the way in which for discussions to finish the 21-month-long devastating conflict.

On Sunday, Netanyahu flew to Washington DC – a 3rd journey since Trump took workplace in January. As he boarded the aircraft, he stated he vowed to carry house the remaining 50 Israeli captives held by Hamas militants in Gaza, including: “the discussion with President Trump can certainly help advance these results.

At the same time, an Israeli negotiating team flew to Qatar, where Hamas delegations are already meeting with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Reaching a deal has felt impossible in the recent past. Previous negotiations have repeatedly broken down, with Israel stating it would not consider a permanent ceasefire until Hamas was defeated. Hamas, for its part, has refused to engage in any talks that do not outline a definitive end to the war.

Speaking to officials from Israel and Hamas, those briefed on the negotiations, as well as US-linked mediators, it appears there is a genuine shift in momentum — although significant obstacles remain.

In Gaza, Palestinian health officials say that since the last ceasefire collapsed in March, Israel’s unprecedented bombardment of the narrow strip has killed nearly 7,000 more people — pushing the overall death toll since 2023 to nearly 57,500. Most of the 2.3 million-strong population is struggling through famine-like conditions, as Israel has intermittently imposed full blockades on the entry of aid and supplies.

Hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli fire while attempting to collect food at controversial aid distribution points. Families — displaced multiple times and now living in tents — told me they can no longer survive under conditions which are “worse than a Hollywood horror movie”.

In Israel, the biggest group representing the remaining 50 Israeli hostages believed to be held in Gaza, has taken to the streets nearly each week, demanding Netanyahu conform to a ceasefire. Fewer than half of these hostages are believed to nonetheless be alive. The households held one other protest on Sunday night, as Netanyahu travelled to the US, declaring: “This is the time to save lives.” They have repeatedly advised me that each day their family members stay in Gaza might be their final.

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There does, nevertheless, seem like some motion.

An official near the mediators in Doha advised me that US ensures that this deal would result in a everlasting ceasefire are a primary and a key change which will assist assuage Hamas’s considerations. That official, who requested to stay nameless as they don’t seem to be permitted to talk to the media, believes that with correct guarantees from Washington, Israel’s strongest ally and first arms supplier, Hamas may stay on the desk.

A unique official, briefed on Israel’s place, who additionally requested for anonymity, advised me that added to this there may be extra “flexibility” from Netanyahu to debate an finish to the conflict. Netanyahu has confronted fierce stress from the extreme-right members of his fragile, razor-thin coalition to not enter into any truce. Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has known as any deal a “surrender” and threatened to exit the coalition — a transfer that will seemingly collapse the federal government.

However, the Israeli prime minister is in a stronger place domestically after Israel’s current intense bombardment of Iran, which took out a lot of the army management and brought on “extensive” harm to Iran’s nuclear amenities. That got here on the heels of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that decimated the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah — one other of Israel’s regional foes.

“There’s a different kind of atmosphere altogether after Iran,” that official advised me. “Netanyahu is in a mindset to go for a deal.” Netanyahu seemingly hopes to make use of a Gaza ceasefire as a launching level to develop the Abraham Accords — the 2020 diplomatic normalisation agreements Israel signed with Bahrain and the UAE. The official added that Netanyahu hopes highly effective regional gamers like Saudi Arabia might now be extra inclined to signal on.

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Meanwhile, Hamas’s place has undoubtedly been weakened. The militant group, which led the bloody 7 October 2023 assaults on southern Israel killing over 1,000 folks and taking greater than 250 folks hostage, is underneath excessive stress to finish the conflict. It is struggling to outlive: brief on commanders, disadvantaged of a lot of its tunnel community, grappling with rebellious native clans, enduring relentless Israeli bombardment, and now going through a decline in help from its strongest ally, Iran.

The lack of a army response from Iran-backed teams within the area to Israel’s strikes on Iran — whether or not on account of strategic restraint or lack of functionality — has forged a protracted shadow over Hamas’s strategic place.

Hamas officers advised me they nonetheless have agency purple strains, together with the unfettered supply of help to Gaza, which they insist shouldn’t be routed by means of Israel’s controversial help mechanism run by a US-based firm known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. They additionally need the entire withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory and an finish to the conflict.

And in order that leads us to the potential obstacles.

Before Netanyahu left Israel, he stated that Hamas had proposed modifications to the US proposal which had been “unacceptable to Israel.”

A supply aware of the matter advised me one of many fundamental modifications involved supply of help: “Hamas does not want GHF there, they want a mechanism run by the United Nations and the Red Cross”.

Hamas additionally needs Israel to withdraw all its troops. Those briefed on Israel’s place have made clear that specifically Israel is not going to conform to withdraw from the strategic border between Gaza and Egypt — a nine-mile strip of land often called the Philadelphi Corridor.

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In truth there are reportedly Israeli plans to attach it to a newly deliberate hall round three miles deep into Gaza — named Morag after an Israeli settlement that used to exist earlier than the “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005.

Hamas has additionally objected to US ensures that this deal would herald an finish to the battle.

“The guarantees to end the war, the wording that comes from the American administration it is not apparently strong enough for Hamas,” the official added.

Perhaps probably the most contentious sticking level is who governs Gaza sooner or later. Israel insists it can not embrace Hamas in any future administration of the territory. There are additionally questions on whether or not the occupied West Bank shall be dragged into the negotiations.

In leaked experiences of telephone conversations between the US administration and Israeli officers — revealed within the Israeli press final month — Washington reportedly signalled it might be keen to acknowledge “limited Israeli sovereignty” in elements of the West Bank.

That has raised fears the US might successfully recognise Israel’s de facto annexation of territory Palestinians hope will kind the premise of a future state — together with Israeli settlements, that are broadly thought-about unlawful underneath worldwide legislation.

There continues to be a protracted approach to go till a deal may be signed, and rather a lot that might scupper any settlement. But for the primary time shortly all sides are on the negotiating desk, and that for now could be a glimmer of hope for the civilians struggling slaughter and hunger.