Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 05:36 pm
Jerusalem — After pressure from US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Israel has agreed to return to indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas beginning August 15, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday. Its decision comes amid growing regional tensions due to the conflict.
Israeli airstrikes in enclave hit two schools: killing more than 18 people. Israel, Iran blamed Israel for fanning conflict across the Middle East. US, Qatari and Egyptian efforts are under way to try to clinch a renewed truce in the 10-month-old war, launched by Israel after a surprise Hamas attack on October 7.
The three heads of state, in a statement, urged the parties, to resume talks on August 15, either in Doha or Cairo, for a ceasefire pact and putting such an agreement into effect. They added that the skeleton of this agreement is already prepared and agree only on the detail about the implementation of such skeleton.
The office of Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel would dispatch a negotiating team on August 15 to conclude the deal on how to put the agreement into motion. According to the outline of the proposed truce, an agreement will be reached in stages. Initially, a truce will be initiated, along with the release of hostages and subsequent.
Recent negotiations have also been based on a framework laid out by US President Joe Biden in late May and which Israel is said to accept. A senior US official from the Biden administration had stated that a major breakthrough was in the offing, but the pact remained a while away.
The announcement follows days after the regular announcement by Hamas of promoting Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind behind the October 7 attack and as its new leader; a development also added to the apprehensions of gaining a more complex nature of present talks.
Ground Situation and International Reactions
In Gaza, Hamas civil defense reported that Israeli strikes on schools in Al-Zahra and Abdel Fattah Hamoud schools claimed over 18 lives and injured scores. The Israeli military said the schools were used as command centers by Hamas. The move is also the latest order to vacate Naaja K10 and parts of Khan Yunis.
Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri blamed Israel over its recent military actions, called them strategic mistakes, and said that they may lead to the expansion of conflict. He added that Israel’s actions clearly recited a broader attempt to raise tensions but it did not have the ability to confront Iran.
International calls for de-escalation grew more pressing as the United States deployed further troops to the region, and French President Emmanuel Macron implored Israel and Iran to show restraint and not take further reprisal. Tehran-aligned militants across Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen have become embroiled in the conflict.
Body Count and I’m Sorry
The first Hamas attack killed 1,198 people, according to figures from Israel, where the overwhelming majority of the victims were civilians. Since that time, Israel’s military operation has sent at least 39,699 people in Gaza to their deaths, according to the Hamas health ministry.
In a recent interview with Time magazine, Netanyahu said that he was deeply sorry it happened and realized that “the depth of that attack” was serious and wondered how an attack of that size could have been prevented.
