Gaza truce talks were held in Paris on Friday, in what appears to be the most dangerous effort in weeks to stop fighting in the troubled Palestinian sector and free Israeli and foreign hostages.
A source familiar with the ceasefire talks, unable to reveal his name or nationality, said the talks began with a separate meeting with both Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
“There are emerging indicators of optimism about the ability to move forward to starting serious negotiations,” a source said. “The Egyptian news channel Cairo also reported that the talks had begun.
An official from Hamas said the movement has concluded ceasefire talks in Cairo and is now waiting to see what mediators will say from the weekend’s talks with Israel.
Mediators have stepped up their efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, hoping to prevent an Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in Gaza, where more than a million displaced people live on the southern end of the sector.
Israel says it will attack the city if a ceasefire is not reached soon. Washington has called on its close ally not to do so, warning of significant casualties to civilians if the attack on the city continues.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss a truce last week on his first visit since December 1.
Two Egyptian security sources had earlier confirmed that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel would head to Paris on Friday for talks with Israelis, after concluding talks with Hania Khamis. Israel has not publicly commented on the Paris talks, which are expected to last until the end of the week.
A Hamas official, who requested anonymity, said the movement had not made any new suggestion in talks with Egyptians, but is waiting to see what mediators will return from their talks with Israelis.
“We discussed our proposal with them (the Egyptians) and we will wait until they return from Paris, broad lines of ceasefire have emerged from the previous talks,” a Hamas official said
The last time similar talks were held in Paris, at the beginning of February, the broad lines of the first extended ceasefire in the war were reached, agreed upon by Israel and the United States. Hamas responded to a counter proposal rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it “delusional”.
Hamas, which is believed to be still holding more than 100 hostages detained in the October 7 attack on Israel that led to the war, says it will release them only in the framework of a truce ending with an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it won’t back down until Hamas is eliminated.
Late on Thursday, Netanyahu presented the Security Council with an official plan for Gaza once the fighting is over, stressing that Israel expects to maintain its security control over the sector after the destruction of Hamas, and also sees no role for the Palestinian authority centered in the West Bank.
Washington remains a role for the Palestinian Authority after its reform.
Two Palestinian officials aware of the negotiations said Hamas has not changed its position in the latest push to reach an agreement, and is still demanding an end to the truce with the Israeli withdrawal.
“Israel’s position on the mediation was negative and that puts many obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement,” Osama Hamdan, a senior official in Hamas, said on Friday, during a press conference in Beirut, said during a press conference on Friday in Beirut.
Hamdan said that Netanyahu is procrastinating.. “He is not concerned about releasing his hostages, he uses the issue as a paper to achieve his goals.”
The comedy’s family is killed in air strikes
Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qadra said that as night falls on the poor sector, an airstrike targeting a residential unit in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed at least 22 Palestinians.
Health officials said several members of the family of comedian Mahmoud Abu Zaitar, who has 1.2 million online followers, were among the dead.
There has been no immediate comment from Israel saying it is doing its best to minimize the damage to civilians while fighting armed forces in urban areas.
Gaza’s health ministry said earlier that 104 people were killed and 160 others were injured in Israeli military raids in the last 24 hours.
The Israeli army said it has killed dozens of activists and seized weapons across Gaza since Thursday.
At a Rafah morgue, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people live, a family kneeled by the body of their child killed in Israeli raids Friday night. They touched the small body and gently beat him through the coffin.
Wadir Mulah is one of the few other areas that have not yet been invaded by Israelis. In a video obtained by Reuters, Thakli’s families gathered at the hospital, where Ahmed Azam lifted his infant son’s body wrapped in a shroud crying: “You killed them, Netanyahu. I killed that innocent child”.
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Rizeq Alshbool
