ΚΑΪΡΟ: Οι διαπραγματευτές συγκλίνουν στο Κάιρο την Κυριακή ενόψει των συνομιλιών που αποσκοπούν στον τερματισμό του σχεδόν δύο ετών πολέμου στη Γάζα, με τον ηγέτη του Ισραήλ να εκφράζει την ελπίδα ότι οι όμηροι που εξακολουθούν να κρατούνται εκεί θα απελευθερωθούν σε λίγες μέρες.
Οι διπλωματικές κινήσεις ήρθαν μετά την θετική ανταπόκριση της παλαιστινιακής ένοπλης ομάδας Χαμάς στον οδικό χάρτη του προέδρου των ΗΠΑ Ντόναλντ Τραμπ για την απελευθέρωση των αιχμαλώτων και τη διοίκηση της μεταπολεμικής Γάζας.
Ο Ισραηλινός πρωθυπουργός Μπενιαμίν Νετανιάχου δήλωσε το Σάββατο ότι διέταξε τους διαπραγματευτές στην Αίγυπτο «να οριστικοποιήσουν τις τεχνικές λεπτομέρειες», ενώ το Κάιρο επιβεβαίωσε ότι θα φιλοξενήσει επίσης μια αντιπροσωπεία της Χαμάς για συνομιλίες σχετικά με «τις συνθήκες εδάφους και τις λεπτομέρειες της ανταλλαγής όλων των Ισραηλινών κρατουμένων και Παλαιστινίων κρατουμένων».
Αιγυπτιακά κρατικά μέσα ενημέρωσης είχαν προηγουμένως αναφέρει ότι τα εμπόλεμα μέρη θα πραγματοποιήσουν έμμεσες συνομιλίες την Κυριακή και τη Δευτέρα.
Ο Τραμπ απέστειλε επίσης δύο απεσταλμένους στην Αίγυπτο το Σάββατο, σύμφωνα με τον Λευκό Οίκο, στέλνοντας τον γαμπρό του Τζάρεντ Κούσνερ και τον κύριο διαπραγματευτή του για τη Μέση Ανατολή Στιβ Γουίτκοφ.
Ο πρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ προειδοποίησε ότι «δεν θα ανεχθεί καθυστέρηση» από τη Χαμάς, προτρέποντας την ομάδα να κινηθεί γρήγορα προς μια συμφωνία «αλλιώς όλα τα στοιχήματα θα ακυρωθούν».
Σε τηλεοπτική δήλωση το Σάββατο, ο Νετανιάχου απέδωσε «στρατιωτική και διπλωματική πίεση» στον πεισμό της Χαμάς να συμφωνήσει στην απελευθέρωση των αιχμαλώτων.
«Ελπίζω ότι τις επόμενες ημέρες θα μπορέσουμε να φέρουμε πίσω όλους τους ομήρους μας... κατά τη διάρκεια των διακοπών του Σουκότ», δήλωσε ο Νετανιάχου, αναφερόμενος στο εβραϊκό φεστ
CAIRO: Negotiators were converging on Cairo on Sunday ahead of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war in Gaza, with Israel’s leader expressing hope that the hostages still being held there would be released in a matter of days.
The diplomatic moves came after the Palestinian militant group Hamas
responded positively to US President Donald Trump’s roadmap for freeing
the captives and administering post-war Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he had
ordered negotiators to Egypt “to finalize the technical details,” while
Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for
talks on “the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all
Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners.”
Egyptian state-linked media had previously reported that the warring parties would hold indirect talks on Sunday and Monday.
Trump also dispatched two envoys to Egypt on Saturday, according to the
White House, sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his main Middle
East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
The US president warned he would “not tolerate delay” from Hamas,
urging the group to move quickly toward a deal “or else all bets will be
off.”
In a televised statement on Saturday, Netanyahu credited “military and
diplomatic pressure” with compelling Hamas to agree to release the
captives.
“I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our
hostages... during the Sukkot holidays,” Netanyahu said, referring to
the Jewish festival that begins on Monday and runs for one week.
On Friday night, Hamas had announced “its approval for the release of
all hostages — living and remains — according to the exchange formula
included in President Trump’s proposal.”
Trump immediately hailed the statement as evidence the group was “ready
for a lasting PEACE,” calling on Israel to stop its bombing.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, insisted in his remarks on Saturday that “Hamas
will be disarmed... either diplomatically via Trump’s plan or militarily
by us.”
On Saturday night, crowds gathered in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to call
for an end to the war and to urge Trump to ensure a deal was struck.
The talks will take place two days before the second anniversary of
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict.
Strikes continue
Despite Trump’s call for a pause in operations, Israel carried out deadly strikes across Gaza on Saturday.
“The death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardment since dawn today
stands at 57, including 40 in Gaza City alone,” said Mahmud Bassal, a
spokesman for the civil defense agency, a rescue organization that
operates under Hamas authority.
Israeli forces have carried out a sweeping air and ground assault in recent weeks around the city.
Mahmud Al-Ghazi, 39, a resident of Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City,
said “Israel has actually escalated its attacks” since Trump’s call for a
pause.
“Who will stop Israel now? We need the negotiations to move faster to stop this genocide and the ongoing bloodshed,” he added.
The Israeli military said it was still operating in Gaza City and
warned residents not to return there, adding that doing so would be
“extremely dangerous.”
No role for Hamas
A Hamas official said Egypt, a mediator in the truce talks, would host a
conference for Palestinian factions to decide on post-war plans for
Gaza.
In its response to the Trump plan, Hamas had insisted it should have a say in the territory’s future.
Trump’s roadmap stipulates that Hamas and other factions “not have any
role in the governance of Gaza,” while also calling for a halt to
hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli
withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’s disarmament.
Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up
by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority
headed by Trump himself.
An AFP journalist in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi reported hearing
celebratory cries of “Allahu akbar!” (God is greatest) from tents
housing Palestinians as news of Hamas’s statement spread.
“The best thing is that President Trump himself announced a ceasefire,
and Netanyahu will not be able to escape this time... (Trump) is the
only one who can force Israel to comply and stop the war,” said Sami
Adas, 50, who lives in a tent in Gaza City with his family.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people,
mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 67,074 Palestinians,
according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that
the United Nations considers reliable.
Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but
indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.
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