GAZA STRIP: Israel has agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks next week at the request of international mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, after intensive diplomatic efforts aimed at averting a region-wide conflagration.

The announcement followed an Iranian claim that Israel wants to spread war in the Middle East, as well as repeated accusations by Hamas, some analysts, and critics in Israel that Netanyahu has prolonged the fighting in Gaza.

There has been only one truce in the Gaza fighting, a week-long pause in November that saw Israeli hostages held by Hamas freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.

United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have for months tried to secure another deal.

EU chief says ceasefire must to save lives, restore hope for peace

In a joint statement on Thursday, the three countries’ leaders invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”.

Mediators were “prepared to present a final bridging proposal” to resolve remaining issues, they said.

Netanyahu’s office said later Thursday that Israel would send a negotiating team “to conclude the details of implementing a deal”.

Recent discussions have focused on a framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in late May which he said had been proposed by Israel. The UN Security Council endorsed that framework.

In talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, “raised the importance of swiftly achieving an agreement” to return the prisoners from Gaza, Israel’s military said on Friday.

Deal needs ‘significant’ work

The killing last week of Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Tehran had sidelined truce talks. Iran and Hamas blamed his death on Israel which has not directly commented on it.

In the hours after Haniyeh’s killing, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani questioned how mediation can succeed “when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?”

A senior Biden administration official said: “There’s still a significant amount of work to do”. Israel had been “very receptive” to the idea of the talks, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity, rejecting suggestions that Netanyahu was stalling on a deal.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition oppose any truce.

But Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli national security adviser and researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said the killing of Haniyeh has left Netanyahu “acting more from a position of strength now”.

After criticism from Biden and other American officials of the Gaza war’s impact on civilians, Freilich added that he thinks Netanyahu is also trying “to align with the US now, since Israel needs the US so much for dealing with the potential Iranian and Hezbollah attacks”.

The United States, which has sent extra warships and jets to the region to support Israel, has urged both Iran and Israel to avoid an escalation.

Gaza ceasefire

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, adding to international pressure for a truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

“We need a ceasefire in Gaza now. That’s the only way to save lives, restore hope for peace, and secure the return of hostages,” von der Leyen wrote on X.

“Thus I strongly support the efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to help achieve the peace and stability the region needs.”

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024