Allow return to northern Gaza
US urges Israel to compromise with Hamas
April 7, 2024, 5:21 a.m
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Hundreds of Israelis are still under the control of Hamas. In order to secure their release, Washington is insisting that the Netanyahu government make concessions to Hamas’ demands. Above all, refugees should be allowed to return to northern Gaza.
According to a media report, the USA is urging Israel to make concessions on a key point in the indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of hostages. Accordingly, the US government wants to ensure that a limited return of civilians to the north of the coastal area that has been under dispute for six months is made possible. As the “Wall Street Journal” reported, citing American, Israeli and Egyptian officials, the USA, as Israel’s most important ally, wants to use its move to enable a breakthrough in negotiations that have been stalled for weeks.
Representatives of the Islamist Hamas say they want to travel to Cairo this Sunday to continue negotiations. According to Israeli media reports, Israel’s war cabinet was scheduled to meet on Sunday morning to first discuss whether or not to send a delegation to Cairo.
This Sunday the war has been going on for six months now, with no end in sight. The return of Palestinian civilians to the north of the sealed-off Gaza Strip, demanded by Hamas, is a key point of contention in talks about a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, the Wall Street Journal reported. Israel is ready to allow the return of 2,000 people, mainly women and children, to the north every day. A maximum of 60,000 Palestinians could return under a proposal considered acceptable by Israel. However, men between the ages of 18 and 50 would be excluded.
Israel insists on military checkpoints
The people who fled the fighting in the south of the coastal area would have to pass through Israeli military checkpoints to prevent armed Hamas fighters from entering northern Gaza again, it said, citing Israeli and Egyptian officials. However, these conditions would not be accepted by Hamas. Hamas said it would not deviate from its own demands in the negotiations. These include, among other things, a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israel’s army from Gaza and the return of displaced people.
According to the news portal “Axios”, CIA Director William Burns wants to meet the head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, as well as Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in Cairo. Israel and Hamas have been negotiating for months – but not directly with each other. The USA, Qatar and Egypt are therefore acting as mediators. During a week-long ceasefire at the end of November last year, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from prisons. According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 of the hostages who were kidnapped to Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 are still alive.