Al -Sharq Al -Awsat newspaper
The developments of the end of the escalation between Israel and Iran were reflected in the scene of the stalled negotiations in the Gaza Strip, with assurances from Hamas that extensive contacts from the mediators and hadiths about the tour of new talks “the coming days”.
US President Donald Trump talked about the existence of “great progress” in the Gaza negotiations, which experts spoke to “Middle East” carrying great opportunities to conclude an agreement amid American pressure towards that, and they suggested that Hamas, who is currently involved in communications, would accept a temporary deal, provided that it leads to completely end the war.
On Wednesday, the talk of Gaza’s intermediaries continued about new moves after the end of the Israel and Iran war, and Trump said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague: “I think great progress is achieved regarding Gaza,” noting that the American strikes against Iran “may reflect positively” on the situation in the Middle East, according to what was reported by the French Press Agency.
Trump’s confirmation came after he spoke with his envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkeov, who said that he told him that the Gaza Agreement was “very close”, the day after the announcement of the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, at a press conference in Doha, “searching for an opportunity during the next two days to hold indirect negotiations between the two parties to reach the agreement.”
While the Israeli government refused, on Wednesday, the comment on any new talks related to Gaza, and in press statements said that efforts to restore Israeli hostages in Gaza are continuing, whether in the field or through negotiations.
“Our contacts with the mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and intensified in the last hours, and the movement wants an agreement on the basis of a comprehensive deal that achieved a permanent stop of the war, the full Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the introduction of aid, and a prisoner exchange deal, but it has not received any new proposal to stop the fire so far.”
Sources in the Hamas movement confirmed to Asharq Al -Awsat, on Wednesday, that “a new indirect negotiation round will be held within a few days, in Cairo or in Doha.”
“The most appropriate time”
Bechara Bhahbah, the American-Palestinian businessman, who is close to Trump, had said in a televised interview on Tuesday that he is optimistic about the chances of reaching a Gaza agreement, stressing that “the remaining differences between Israel and (Hamas) is very few, and the main conflict was about formulating a specific sentence”, referring to the item related to the end of the temporary ceasefire and permanent endowment guarantees.
A member of the “Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs” and academic specializing in the Israeli affairs, Ahmed Fouad Anwar, believes that the momentum that has escalated towards the return of Gaza negotiations and is currently led by Washington with Egyptian -Qatari support “indicates that we are about a serious revival of the conversations”, and expected that Washington will pressure the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to conclude an agreement “especially that there is no reason for any other extension The fronts were fought by the Israeli Prime Minister, and only Gaza remained in need of an end. ”
The Palestinian political analyst, Nizar Nazzal, expects to resume the talks next week in the current momentum, to conclude an agreement that may be partial, to include an affirmation of a permanent endowment research, as “Hamas” wants.
On the practical level, the “Times of Israel” spoke, on Wednesday, about a meeting between Habhah and the leader in “Hamas” Ghazi Hamad to discuss the remaining contentious points. The Israeli “Seventh Channel” reported that there are intense Egyptian -Qatari efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, explaining that Cairo and Doha are preparing new proposals that will be presented to the two parties in the coming days.
On Wednesday, the British newspaper “The Guardian” suggested that the current time is the most appropriate for Netanyahu to announce the end of the war in Gaza and return the remaining hostages to their homes “to make a political leap, and seek to renew his mandate with early elections.”
“Political suicide”
This coincides with the Israeli army’s announcement of the killing of 7 of its members in an attack in southern Gaza, on Wednesday, the largest number that fell in one day inside the Strip since its violation of the ceasefire with Hamas last March, according to Reuters, pointing out that this is likely to increase the popular pressure on Netanyahu to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
In an interview with a parliamentary committee, on Wednesday, the deputy of one of the parties in the Netanyahu coalition government, Moshe Jafni, said: “This is a very sad day with the killing of seven soldiers in Gaza.”
A member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Fouad Anwar, expects that Israel’s affliction will affect great losses with the killing of its seven soldiers on Netanyahu, and that he will put it under additional pressure with another expected to be practiced by Washington, which probably drives him to conclude a partial agreement as a suitable time that achieves additional gains after what he did in Iran. He is likely to accept Hamas with a temporary deal to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with guarantees to be extended later.
Nazzal believes that Netanyahu, in light of the pressures he faces after the fall of the seven soldiers, “will commit suicide politically if he rejects an agreement on Gaza”, and expects that he accepts a partial agreement that enables him to stay in specific areas, ruling that “Hamas” accept any deal that does not explicitly end the end of the war.
