The United States on Thursday welcomed the “promising start” talks in Doha on a truce in the Gaza Strip, as pressure mounts to avoid an extension of the war that Hamas says has killed more than 40,000 people in the Palestinian territory.
Talks are due to continue on Friday, a source familiar with the discussions said, in the 11th month of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has announced that it has “eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists” since October 7, 2023.
After months of fruitless talks, new discussions are taking place, at the call of the mediators – Qatar, the United States and Egypt – to try to obtain a ceasefire in this war, triggered by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel on October 7.
CIA Director William Burns and the heads of Israel’s foreign (Mossad) and domestic (Shin Beth) intelligence services took part. Hamas did not participate.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, for his part, spoke of a “promising start” but stressed that it remained “lots of work to do”.
The obstacles “can be overcome and we must reach a solution”he added.
“We still have them”
Displaced Palestinians take shelter in a damaged apartment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2024 / Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
Joe Biden said a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could prevent an attack by Iran, which has threatened Israel with a “severe punishment” in response to the assassination, attributed to Israel, of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
“I can’t say that anything has changed their minds.”John Kirby said of a possible Iranian response. “A few days ago we had information” according to which “an attack could come in the coming days” et “we still have them”.
The risk of a military escalation has redoubled following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and that, on July 30, of Fouad Chokr, the military leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, killed in a strike claimed by Israel near Beirut.
Besides Iran, its allies – Hamas, Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels – have threatened to retaliate.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrives for a meeting with the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament in Beirut, August 15, 2024 / – / AFP
The Doha talks are “crucial for global stability”said British Foreign Minister David Lammy.
His French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné judged ” necessary “ a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to ensure peace in the Middle East.
“A calendar”
A photo provided by the Israeli army on August 15, 2024 shows Israeli soldiers operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip / – / Israeli Army/AFP
The Doha talks are based on a plan announced on May 31 by the American president, which provides for a six-week truce in the first phase, accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages – taken to the territory at the time of the October 7 attack – in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will continue the war until the destruction of Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
This Palestinian movement has expressed its refusal to participate in new discussions and demanded the implementation of the plan announced by Mr. Biden.
In the evening, a Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told AFP that the movement had informed the mediators in Doha of its position.
Children sit in a damaged car in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on August 15, 2024, amid war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas / Bashar TALEB / AFP
If the talks are aimed at “setting a timetable for implementing what was presented and accepted by Hamas, then we will participate,” he explained. “If the mediators manage to force (Israel) to accept this, we will participate (in the discussions). But, so far, there is nothing new.”.
“Any agreement must result in a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete (Israeli) withdrawal from Gaza, (and) the return of displaced persons.”reaffirmed in this regard, also on Thursday evening, in Doha, a senior Hamas official, Hossam Badran.
“A dark stage”
A Palestinian child boards a bus at Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis on August 15, 2024, after Israeli authorities allowed 11 children suffering from cancer to leave Gaza to receive treatment in Jordan / Bashar TALEB / AFP
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel launched an attack that killed 1,198 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 111 are still being held in the Palestinian territory, including 39 declared dead by the army.
In response, the Israeli army launched intense aerial bombardments and then a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that left at least 40,005 dead, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, which did not give details of the number of civilians and fighters killed.
In addition to the colossal destruction in this Palestinian territory besieged by Israel, the war has led to the displacement of almost all of its 2.4 million inhabitants.
Commenting on the Palestinian death toll, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said: “Today marks a dark day for the whole world”.
Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip continued on Thursday, killing at least six people, according to rescue workers.
“(…) Why did Netanyahu send a delegation to the (Doha) talks when we are being killed here? Cease (hostilities) and negotiate,” said Palestinian Mohammed al-Balwi from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip after a deadly Israeli strike.
A Palestinian woman cries after the death of a family member killed in a bombing, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on August 14, 2024 / Bashar TALEB / AFP
In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis demonstrated to call on their government to reach an agreement that would allow the release of the hostages.
For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has “firmly condemned” An attack by Jewish settlers on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Thursday evening left one dead and one seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Authority, and described the violence as « pogrom ».
