Blinken says Gaza truce negotiators to meet 'in coming days'
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Following a one-week ceasefire in November last year, consecutive rounds of negotiations have failed to bring the war to an end.
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Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chief of Protocol Ibrahim Fakhroo welcomes the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he arrives in Doha, Qatar, on October 24, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that negotiators will meet in the coming days to discuss a Gaza truce, as he renewed calls for "Israel" and the Palestinian Resistance movement to achieve an agreement.
Blinken told reporters following discussions with Qatar that negotiators will be meeting within days, as per the discussions to "capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward."
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani announced that American and Israeli teams will fly to Qatar, but did not provide a timeline, explaining that a negotiating team from the US will come to Doha with the Israeli negotiating team "to discuss the means by which a breakthrough can be achieved."
When asked if Qatar had communicated with Hamas following the martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar, the prime minister responded, "We re-engaged with them. There has been an engagement with the representatives from the political office in Doha. I believe that until now, there is no clarity what will be the way forward."
Following a one-week ceasefire in November last year, during which dozens of Israeli captives were released, consecutive rounds of negotiations have failed to bring the war to an end. However, the martyrdom of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week has been reported in Western media as an event that may bring negotiations back to life.
Exclusive: ‘Israel' asked US to exclude permanent ceasefire
Last month, a source within the Palestinian Resistance told Al Mayadeen that mediators had conveyed to the Resistance that the United States' was unable to present a proposal acceptable to both "Israel" and Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas.
According to the source, "Israel" pressured the US administration not to offer Hamas a ceasefire proposal without its approval, and had insisted that Washington omit any terms such as a "permanent ceasefire" or a "complete withdrawal" from the Gaza Strip from the agreement.
It is important to note that US President Joe Biden previously remarked that Netanyahu "is not making enough effort" to reach an agreement for the release of Israeli captives being held in the Gaza Strip, he said in response to a question from reporters at the White House.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported earlier that a source familiar with the negotiations stated, "Netanyahu prioritizes continuing the war over retrieving the prisoners [captives]."
In turn, Reuters, citing 10 sources familiar with the talks, noted that Israeli occupation conditions, particularly maintaining a military presence inside the Gaza Strip, specifically along the Philadelphi Route, are complicating negotiations and delaying a ceasefire agreement.
The sources told Reuters that the disagreements stem from conditions set by "Israel" since Hamas had agreed to a version of the ceasefire proposal, which Biden had revealed earlier in May.
For its part, the Resistance in the Gaza Strip holds Israeli occupation's leaders responsible for undermining mediation efforts by persisting with aggression and reneging on previous agreements, particularly the proposal they accepted on July 2nd.
