“We are not close to an agreement” on a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, said Tuesday, March 12, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, country mediator of negotiations.
“We do not see the two sides converging on language that could resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of an agreement,” Majed Al-Ansari clarified at a press conference, adding that talks between the parties continued, a little more than five months after the start of the war.
Despite new discussions at the beginning of March in Cairo, the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the three mediator countries, did not manage to secure a truce agreement accompanied by the release of hostages. The Gaza Strip, in the grip of a serious humanitarian crisis, remains under fire from the Israeli offensive against Hamas, at the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
All parties “continue to work through negotiations to reach an agreement, hopefully during Ramadan,” which began this week and lasts for a month, Al-Ansari said. However, he added that he was not able to “propose a timetable” for a truce agreement, specifying that the conflict remained “very complicated on the ground”.
Warnings from the international community
Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh assured Sunday that the Islamist movement remained “open to negotiations.” A source close to the negotiations, however, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday “that there would be an acceleration of diplomatic efforts in the next ten days” in order to try to obtain an agreement during the first half of Ramadan. .
Hamas is demanding in particular a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops before any agreement on the release of hostages still held in Gaza. Israel is demanding that Hamas provide a precise list of hostages still alive, but the Palestinian movement has said it does not know who among them is “alive or dead.” According to Israel, 130 hostages remain in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to be dead, out of approximately 250 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
To achieve “total victory” against Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu announced an upcoming land offensive on Rafah, a town stuck against the closed border with Egypt where, according to the UN, nearly a million and a half are massed. of Palestinians.
This prospect has sparked repeated warnings from the international community, notably the United States, Israel’s main ally, which has raised its voice in recent days by calling for a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid. increased.
