The countries mediating indirect negotiations between the parties \u2013 Qatar, the USA, and Egypt \u2013 urged Israel and Hamas yesterday, Saturday, to \u201cfinalize\u201d the ceasefire agreement based on the plan presented by US President Joe Biden amid the war that is approaching eight months in the Gaza Strip.
\nSimultaneously, airstrikes from the air and the ground continued in Rafah (south), now the epicenter of the armed conflict sparked by the unprecedented raid by the military wing of Hamas in southern Israel on October 7.
\n\u201cQatar, the USA, and Egypt jointly call on Hamas and Israel to finalize the agreement based on the principles outlined by President Joe Biden,\u201d the three states said in a joint statement, satisfying the requirements of \u201call sides.\u201d
\nThree-phase plan
\nFriday night, Mr. Biden presented a \u201croadmap\u201d compiled by Israel to achieve, in phases and under conditions, a permanent ceasefire, urging Hamas to accept it.
\nThe first phase, he explained, will declare a complete ceasefire, and Israeli troops will withdraw from \u201cpopulated areas of the Gaza Strip\u201d for six weeks.
\nThe suspension of hostilities will be accompanied by the release of certain Israeli hostages taken during Hamas\u2019 attack on southern Israel on October 7, particularly women and the sick, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
\nNegotiations will take place during the ceasefire, and, if successful and if Hamas \u201cfulfills its commitments,\u201d hostilities will definitively cease, and all hostages in the Gaza Strip, including soldiers, will return home, and Israeli troops will fully withdraw from the enclave.
\nA few hours after Joe Biden\u2019s speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his government\u2019s \u201cconditions\u201d for a permanent ceasefire: the \u201cdestruction\u201d of Hamas, the \u201crelease of all hostages,\u201d and \u201cguarantees that Gaza will no longer pose a threat\u201d to Israeli security.
\nOn the other hand, Hamas responded cautiously to Biden\u2019s roadmap, reiterating its \u201cnon-negotiable\u201d demands for a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip before any agreement is reached \u2014 terms rejected by Israel.
\nNetanyahu finds himself caught in the crossfire. On one hand, his right-wing ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, threaten to leave the government if it proceeds with the agreement. On the other hand, thousands of Israelis took to the streets yesterday demanding the return of the hostages.Ceasefire agreement.. ceasefire agreement, indirect negotiations, armed conflict<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Countries mediating ceasefire negotiations, including Qatar, the USA, and Egypt, called on Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement based on a plan presented by US President Joe Biden. The plan includes a three-phase approach to achieve a permanent ceasefire, with conditions such as the release of hostages and the withdrawal of troops. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated his government’s conditions for a ceasefire, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages. Hamas responded cautiously, demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops before agreeing to a ceasefire. Netanyahu faces pressure from both right-wing ministers and Israeli citizens demanding the return of hostages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,3258,7864,11216,7469,383,4538,492,1423,8982,9140,8569,5732,6432,3194,2259,145,895,415,298,1025,12024,299,3426,2809,1671,10555,756,3504,1864,493,7471,7378,4843,1670,3775,1792,8969,10394,11601,837,6180,1354,7374,827,6928,9816,7558,1827,4544,1846,380,173,293,4568,1100,18],"class_list":["post-14053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-air","tag-airstrikes","tag-armed","tag-armed-conflict","tag-attack","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-biden","tag-ceasefire","tag-ceasefire-agreement","tag-ceasefire-negotiations","tag-citizens","tag-conditions","tag-conflict","tag-destruction","tag-egypt","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-strip","tag-government","tag-hamas","tag-hostages","tag-indirect-negotiations","tag-israel","tag-israeli-hostages","tag-israeli-prime-minister","tag-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-israeli-troops","tag-joe-biden","tag-military","tag-negotiations","tag-netanyahu","tag-october-7","tag-parties","tag-president","tag-president-joe-biden","tag-pressure","tag-prime-minister","tag-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-prisoners","tag-qatar","tag-rafah","tag-raid","tag-release","tag-release-of-hostages","tag-security","tag-six","tag-soldiers","tag-speech","tag-statement","tag-suspension","tag-threat","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-war","tag-withdrawal","tag-women","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n