©Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the Palestinian Authority, in Cairo, Egypt, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Daphne Psaledakis
CAIRO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel’s intelligence chief is expected to travel to Qatar on Friday for ceasefire negotiations, while the United States plans to submit a resolution calling for an immediate truce to the United Nations Security Council for a vote. Gaza, intensifying pressure on its ally. .
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday in Cairo that he believed talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt could still reach a ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
Negotiations in Qatar have focused on a roughly six-week truce that would allow the release of 40 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, paving the way for more aid to enter an enclave where famine looms in due to extreme food scarcity.
“Negotiators continue to work. The gaps are closing and we continue to push for a deal in Doha. There’s still hard work to get there. But I continue to believe it’s possible,” Blinken said.
The main sticking point is that Hamas says it will only release the hostages as part of a deal that would end the war, while Israel says it will only discuss a temporary pause.
A Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters that Hamas had shown flexibility. Israel “continues to stall because it does not want to commit to ending the war in Gaza,” the official said.
A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israeli spy chief David Barnea would travel to Qatar on Friday to meet with mediators.
Meanwhile, Israel said it plans to continue attacks on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City for a few more days. The facility, where residents reported tanks, gunfire and flames on Thursday, is the only partially functioning medical facility in the northern enclave and has already been under attack for four days.
Israel says Hamas gunmen are holding out at the medical compound, which Hamas denies. Israel says it has killed 150 fighters and captured 358 militants in and around the hospital in recent days.
THE USA IS PUTTING MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL
Washington, which has traditionally protected Israel at the United Nations, has put increasing pressure on its longtime ally, and the draft UN Security Council resolution marked a further tightening.
The shift coincided with growing global condemnation of the five-month war, Palestinian civilian deaths, domestic political opposition to US President Joe Biden’s position and the prospect of a man-made famine in Gaza.
The UN text, seen by Reuters, said an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” lasting around six weeks would protect civilians and allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
At the beginning of the war, the United States was against the word ceasefire and had vetoed measures that included calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The new resolution expresses support for talks in Qatar, the release of Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
To pass the Security Council, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China. European Union leaders also called for an immediate ceasefire on Thursday.
The United States wanted any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
According to Gaza health authorities, the Israeli offensive has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians.
(This story has been refiled to date March 22)