HOPES OF PAUSE IN GAZA WAR BEFORE RAMADAN

▶ Diplomatic sources report ‘progress,’ and say negotiations moving to Paris

Talks to agree a pause in the Israel-Gaza war to allow for detainees and hostages to be exchanged are making good progress, diplomatic sources have told The National.

Negotiators are hopeful that a deal can be struck before the start of Ramadan – which is expected to begin on March 10 or 11, said the sources.

Speaking on Thursday, the sources said the negotiations, which have continued in Cairo this week, would move to Paris within days.

CIA director William Burns, his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman will attend the negotiations there, they added, in what appears to be a major push to secure an agreement before the start of the holy month.

“We are very hopeful that we can have a deal before Ramadan,” said one of the sources.

“Things are looking a great deal more positive than before.

“Things are moving slowly, the details are complicated … but the overall picture is positive.”

The war in Gaza is now in its fifth month, during which more than 29,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s strikes and ground offensive.

About 85 per cent of the enclave’s 2.3 million population has been displaced.

Fears are also growing that Israel’s ground offensive could soon move to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, on the Egyptian border. This would bring heavy civilian casualties since about 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge there.

Israel launched its offensive on Gaza after Hamas attacked Israeli communities on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240 others.

About 100 hostages were released during a pause in late November, while about 30 others are believed to be dead.

The sources did not go into details about the progress they said has been made in the talks, saying only that most of it is attributed to Hamas’s decision to soften its conditions for accepting a pause in fighting and allowing a detainee and hostage swap with Israel.

The progress follows a decision by Hamas reported by the sources to drop its demand for a permanent ceasefire and accept a temporary one.

The group also wants international guarantees that the truce will be followed by negotiations to reach a permanent ceasefire.

Previously, Hamas insisted on international guarantees that a halt would be followed by a permanent ceasefire.

There are other signs that a deal could be within reach.

Brett McGurk, the White House co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday – his second stop in the region after Egypt, as part of US efforts to advance a hostage deal and broker a truce.

Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh is in Cairo for talks too, the group said, while Israel’s war cabinet member Benny Gantz said on Wednesday that there were efforts to “promote a new plan for the return of the hostages”.

“We are seeing the first signs that indicate the possibility of progress in this direction,” said Mr Gantz.

And in the US, Matthew Miller,

US State Department spokesman, said Washington was hoping for an “agreement that secures a temporary ceasefire where we can get the hostages out and get humanitarian assistance [in]”.

Israeli military officer Lt Col Peter Lerner told The National that the army would enact “any instructions we receive from the government and political echelon”.

“Our goal is to pursue Hamas wherever they are and achieve the military aims of this war,” he said.

For months, the US, Egypt and Qatar have been working to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would pause the fighting and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.

The Biden administration has continued to support Israel in its stated goal of destroying Hamas. But pressure is mounting to help end the war.

Washington has refused to back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned incursion into Rafah, and has urged Israel to formulate a credible plan to keep civilians from harm. Israel has yet to present such a plan.

The White House has said Mr McGurk will discuss the issue during his visit.