By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press
CAIRO (AP)After Israel and the United States dismissed their negotiating teams, further casting doubt on the negotiations’ future, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was looking at alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s remarks coincided with a Hamas spokesman who described the recall of the American and Israeli delegations as a pressure move and stated that talks were anticipated to resume next week.
As Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, claimed that Hamas’ most recent reaction to negotiation proposals demonstrated a lack of desire to establish a truce, the teams departed Qatar on Thursday. Without providing further details, Witkoff stated that the United States will consider other choices.
Netanyahu repeated Witkoff’s assertion that Hamas is the barrier to a hostage release agreement in a statement issued by his office.
He said, “We are now looking at other options with our U.S. allies to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’ terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.” He didn’t go into detail. Regarding whether talks would resume next week, the Israeli government did not immediately respond.
As humanitarian conditions in Gaza worsen, the Trump administration has failed to reach a consensus on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamashas. As hunger among Gaza’s more than 2 million residents has gotten worse and the number of deaths from malnutrition has increased, Israel has been under increasing pressure.
More than 100 humanitarian and human rights organizations, along with more than two dozen Western-aligned nations, have called for an end to the war in recent days and have sharply criticized Israel’s blockade and a new assistance delivery strategy. Even their own employees were having trouble getting adequate food, according to the charity and rights organizations.
The conflict in Gaza must end immediately, and the civilian population must be spared, French President Emmanuel Macron declared Thursday that France would recognize Palestine as a state.
The organization was informed that the Israeli delegation had returned home for discussions and would return early next week to begin ceasefire talks, according to Hamas official Bassem Naim on Friday.
Hamas said that the talks had advanced in recent days and that Witkoff’s comments were intended to exert pressure on the group for Netanyahu’s advantage during the upcoming round of negotiations. According to Naim, a number of issues, including the ceasefire’s agenda, pledges to carry on negotiations in order to secure a lasting accord, and the distribution of humanitarian goods, had all but been resolved.
After weeks of negotiations in Qatar, the parties have reported little advancements but no significant breakthroughs. According to officials, the relocation of Israeli forces following any truce is a major bone of contention.
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It is anticipated that the agreement will include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 captives who are still alive and the remains of 18 others in stages in return for Palestinians that Israel has imprisoned. The two sides would negotiate a permanent truce, and aid supplies would be increased.
Conflicting calls to terminate the conflict have stalled the negotiations. Hamas claims that it will only free all hostages if Israel completely withdraws and the conflict comes to an end. Israel has stated that it will not consent to a ceasefire unless Hamas disarms and cedes authority. The militant group claims that while it is willing to relinquish its weapons, it is not ready to leave power.
The hostages are reportedly being held by Hamas in various places, including tunnels, and the group claims that its guards have been ordered to kill them if Israeli forces come near.
Less than half of the 50 hostages who are still in Gaza are thought to be alive. The start-stop conversations are painful, according to their families.
Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is a hostage, stated, “I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha.” And I wonder, “When will this nightmare end?” after learning that they’re returning.
Israeli strikes in Gaza persisted in the meantime.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, since Thursday night, almost 80 individuals have died, primarily as a result of strikes, but nine of them were killed while trying to get relief. Just as people were assembling inside for weekly Friday prayers, a school in Gaza City that serves as a shelter for displaced persons was struck. An AP reporter who observed the bodies said at least five people were slain, including an 11-year-old kid.
Shurafa reported from the Gaza Strip’s Deir al-Balah.
