Israel-Gaza war: Rumours of ceasefire to release hostages intensify

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Israeli soldier at festival site where many people were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7

Photo: ATEF SAFADI / EPA

A rapprochement in the Israel-Gaza war seems at least possible in the near future – reports of negotiations on an agreement to release the hostages are becoming more detailed.

U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said on U.S. television on Sunday that we are closer to an agreement at this point "than we may have ever been since these negotiations began weeks ago." However, there is still no agreement on the release of the hostages.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose emirate plays an important mediating role, said there were very few hurdles left for an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Initially, there was no official Israeli confirmation of an imminent hostage agreement.

A representative of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas is more specific. According to an unconfirmed media report, he is said to have announced a pause in the fighting for the release of the hostages this Monday. As part of an agreement on the release of Israeli hostages, a pause in the fighting will reportedly take effect at 11:00 a.m. local time, a Hamas official told the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad, as reported by the Ynet news site.

However, an Israeli official denied the report and said there was no such agreement, it said. Initially, it was not possible to independently verify all the information.

Macron urges agreement – ambassador is confident

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently denied a report in the Washington Post that Israel, the US and Hamas had agreed on a five-day pause in fighting and the release of dozens of women and children.

The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, on the other hand, is confident. He hopes that there will be an agreement in the coming days and that a significant number of hostages can be released, Herzog said on Sunday in an interview with the US television channel ABC.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. In a phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday, Macron complained that there were "too many civilian casualties" in the Israeli military operation in the Palestinian territory, the Elysée Palace said on Sunday.

In the conversation, Macron also reiterated his call for an "immediate humanitarian" pause in the fighting, which must lead to a ceasefire. With regard to the situation in the occupied West Bank, Macron reportedly expressed his "grave concern about the increasing violence against Palestinian civilians".

jok/AFP