'Promising start' for talks in Qatar on Gaza truce

Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa Agence France-Presse A boy walks through a puddle of sewage past mounds of garbage and rubble in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Agence France-Presse in Doha

Published at 6:47 a.m. Updated at 6:28 p.m.

• Middle East

The United States on Thursday hailed a “promising start” to talks in Doha on a truce in Gaza, as pressure mounted to avoid a spread of the war that Hamas says has killed more than 40,000 people in the Palestinian territory.

The talks are due to continue on Friday, a source close to the discussions said, in this 11th month of the war in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has, she announced, “eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists.” since October 7, 2023.

After months of unsuccessful talks, the new discussions are being held at the call of the mediators — Qatar, the United States and Egypt —, who are trying to obtain a cease-fire in this war triggered by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel on October 7.

The director of the CIA, William Burns, and the heads of the Israeli foreign (Mossad) and domestic (Shin Beth) intelligence services took part. Hamas did not participate.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called it a “promising start” but said “there is still much work to do.”

The obstacles “can be overcome and we need to get to a solution,” he added.

Read also

• Biden says Gaza ceasefire could deter Iran from attacking Israel
• More than 40,000 Gazans have been killed since the start of the war with Israel
• Nearly 400 Hezbollah fighters killed in Gaza conflict

“We still have them”

US President Joe Biden has said a ceasefire in Gaza could help prevent an attack by Iran, which has threatened Israel with “severe punishment” in response to the assassination, attributed to Israel, of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

“I can’t say there’s anything that’s changed his mind,” John Kirby said of a possible Iranian response. “A few days ago, we had information” that “an attack could come in the coming days,” and “we still have it.”

The risk of military escalation has redoubled after the assassination of Haniyeh and that, on July 30, of Fouad Shokr, the military leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, killed in a strike near Beirut claimed by Israel.

In addition to Iran, its allies — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels — have threatened to retaliate.

The Doha talks are “crucial for global stability,” said British Foreign Minister David Lammy.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

His French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, said a ceasefire in Gaza was “necessary” to ensure peace in the Middle East.

“A timetable”

The Doha talks are based on a plan announced on May 31 by Joe Biden, which provides for a six-week truce in the first phase, accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of hostages — taken to Gaza during the October 7 attack — in exchange for prisoners Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will continue the war until the destruction of Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Hamas has said it refuses to participate in new talks and has demanded the implementation of the plan announced by Mr. Biden.

In the evening, a Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Agence France-Presse that the movement had informed the mediators present in Doha of its position.

If the talks aim “to set a timetable for the implementation of what was presented and accepted by Hamas, then we will participate,” he said. “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 lead to a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete [Israeli] withdrawal from Gaza [and] the return of displaced people,” another senior Hamas official, Hossam Badran, said in Doha.

“A dark milestone”

On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza into neighboring southern Israel launched an attack that killed 1,198 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 111 are still being held in Gaza, including 39 reported dead by the army.

In response, the Israeli army carried out a campaign of intense aerial bombardments followed by a ground offensive in Gaza that left at least 40,005 dead, according to the Hamas government's health ministry in Gaza, which did not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed.

In addition to colossal destruction in the Palestinian territory under siege by Israel, the war has caused a humanitarian disaster and displaced 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 milestone for the entire world. »

On Thursday, Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip continued, killing at least six people, according to medics.

“[…] Why did Netanyahu send a delegation to the [Doha] talks when we are being killed here?? Cease [hostilities] and negotiate,” Palestinian Mohammed al-Balwi said from Jabaliya in northern Gaza after a deadly Israeli strike.

For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog “strongly condemned” an attack Thursday night by Jewish settlers on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank that left one dead and one seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Authority, and called the violence a “pogrom.” In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis demonstrated to call on their government to reach an agreement that would allow the hostages to be released.