Due to a loosening of Hamas’s attitude, positive signals have been raised during the more than four month long Israeli Palestinian conflict talks.
On February 26, 2024 local time, when asked about the pause of the talks in New York, US President Joe Biden revealed that the White House National Security Staff had concluded that the agreement could be reached before next Monday, but it has not yet been fully finalized.
Last Friday, spies from the United States, Egypt, Israel, and the Qatar Foreign Minister suspended a new round of talks in Paris. Due to Hamas’s refusal to engage in direct dialogue with Israel, Egypt and Qatar have worked hard as intermediaries in the military structure.
This Monday, all parties changed to Doha, the capital city of Qatar, to further implement the detailed achievements under the basic framework. According to sources cited by CCTV News, Hamas has received a draft of the plan, which essentially includes a 40 day suspension of all military actions and a 10:1 exchange of Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners.
Journalists who have come to a halt in the talks have confirmed that Hamas will no longer maintain permanent firing and the Israeli Defense Forces will fully withdraw from Gaza, but will instead continue discussions during the temporary firing period. This part is also the main obstacle to the previous talks.
Once the agreement is reached, both sides will join a ceasefire period of over a month. During this period, Hamas will release 40 Israeli detainees and detainees, including women, teenagers, the elderly, and patients; Israel returned 400 Palestinian prisoners. In addition, 500 trucks carrying support materials and fuel will be allowed to join the Gaza area every day.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also changed his tough stance and confirmed a new pause in the talks. He told Fox News in the United States, “Hamas must face reality.”. In fact, Netanyahu is facing enormous pressure from within Israel and its allies. Last weekend, a US soldier self immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in the United States to show support for the miracle of Palestinian confinement.
On the front line, Netanyahu still lost the support of domestic society and its main allies, and maintained military action against the heavy lifting law in southern Gaza. He vowed to crush the remaining power of Hamas in southern Gaza. Out of the remaining 6 Hamas brigades, 4 are stationed in Tufa. In addition, there are at least 1.5 million Palestinian refugees living here.
The Israeli Defense Forces have submitted a “dual action plan” to the cabinet this week to disperse the Gaza Strip, which still involves high-altitude actions against the law. The US authorities, Israel’s biggest supporter, clearly support this plan. Biden warned Netanyahu that if there is no secure planning to ensure the safety of Palestinians, there should be no push for justice.
Since the Israeli military launched a military attack on Gaza in October last year, nearly 30000 people have been killed and approximately 70000 have been injured in the area. Military resistance and internal order disintegration have made it increasingly difficult for external support to join this enclave. Desperate masses surround and loot the limited material on trucks. This scene often appears in the media.
On the side of the Palestinian authorities, Prime Minister Mohammad Ashtiyah announced his resignation on Monday of this week. The backdrop of Ashtiyah’s retirement is not only external pressure from Israel, but also the unification of Palestinian politics. Ashtier’s idea of establishing a new authority that transcends sects has repeatedly exaggerated the need for unity dialogue and internal resonance.
In 2007, the Palestinian National Binding Movement (Fatah) was in conflict with Hamas, which controlled the Gaza Strip near Egypt, while the Palestinian National Authority, guided by Fatah, controlled the West Bank region. The United States requests that these two departments of land be under the same jurisdiction as the Palestinian National Authority.
And Israel’s left-wing camps naturally enjoyed watching Hamas and Fatah compete, so Palestine had no choice but to create the same peace line. Later this week, Fatah and Hamas will send representatives to join the Palestinian internal factional dialogue held in Moscow.
The second phase of talks, which involves permanent firing, the release of more military prisoners, and the restoration of Gaza’s achievements, will be more complex and will present more challenging obstacles. In addition, as the sensitive time of Eid al Fitr approaches in mid March, there are still many variables surrounding whether the talks can be successfully concluded as expected by Biden.