Tag: CEASEFIRE

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Qatar, Egypt Press Hamas To Accept Israel’s Ceasefire Proposal

A meeting between the Qatar and Egyptian negotiators with Hamas political head, Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly held on Friday night.

The negotiators from Qatar and Egypt are pushing the Hamas political leadership to accept the ceasefire proposal mooted by Israel at the behest of the United States.

Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel met the Hamas political head, Ismail Haniyeh and pushed the militant group to accept the proposal of Israel for a ceasefire.

Sources in Israel’s PMO told IANS that the meeting between the Qatar and Egyptian negotiators with Haniyeh was held on Friday night.

Israel has given a three-phase ceasefire proposal at the behest of the United States. It included the release of hostages inclusive of women, children, elderly and injured, and that Israel forces would withdraw from the densely populated regions of Gaza including Rafah. There is to be a six-week ceasefire as part of this during the first phase.

The released hostages would include American hostages. In exchange for this, Palestinians would return to their homes from all areas of Gaza including the northern region from where maximum exodus had taken place.

During the six weeks of ceasefire, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary agreements for phase two, which will be a permanent ceasefire.

Qatar and Egyptian negotiators are keen for the permanent ceasefire to happen.

In the second phase, all the hostages would be released and around 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails would also be released. The third phase would lead to the reconstruction plan for Gaza and the release of any remaining hostages.

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Hopes Up For 6-Week Ceasefire As Israel, Hamas Mull Easing Demands

A six-week ceasefire is on the cards in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel after both sides communicated to the mediators on stepping down from their earlier demands.

While Hamas has agreed to climb down from the demand for a permanent end of the war to a pause for six weeks, Israel has almost agreed to release 1000 Palestinian prisoners including 100 charged with grievous crimes including murder.

There were a series of meetings in Doha, Cairo, and Paris in the last two days with different negotiators brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas

Sources in Israeli intelligence agencies told IANS that Qatar has communicated to the Hamas leadership that it would “not hesitate to deport them from Qatar if they do not come down from unreasonable demands”.

According to sources, the strong position taken by Qatar and Egypt to prevent any Gazan refugees on its soil if Israel invades Rafah has acted as a trigger for Hamas to rework its earlier demands of a permanent ceasefire.

As per the available information, Hamas would release all Israeli prisoners including soldiers in exchange for 1000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli intelligence agencies have communicated to the government that of the 134 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, 32 have died.

Hamas, according to sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, would release the remaining 102 hostages and send the bodies of 32 hostages in exchange for 1000 Palestinian prisoners. However, it is unclear whether all the hostages would be released in a single go or multiple slots.

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Hamas Freezes Ceasefire Talks with Israel After Deputy Chief’s Assassination

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said the attack was a serious assault on the Lebanese people, security, and sovereignty…reports Asian Lite News

 Hamas has reportedly announced a freeze on ceasefire negotiations with Israel after the faction’s deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed on Tuesday evening in an Israeli attack in Lebanon.

“We have informed the brothers in Qatar and Egypt of the freezing of negotiations,” a Palestinian source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity. Qatar and Egypt have been mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The source added that Hamas, at war with Israel, rejected any talks about reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip amid escalated Israeli aggression and “assassination schemes” against Palestinian leaders.

Earlier, a Hamas source told Xinhua that several aides of al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas politburo, were also killed in the Israeli attack targeting a Hamas office in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

In a statement, Hamas confirmed that seven of its members were slain in the Israeli attack, slamming it as a “barbaric and heinous” terrorist act, a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and an expansion of Israeli aggression against Palestine and its people.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said the attack was a serious assault on the Lebanese people, security, and sovereignty.

“This crime will never pass without response and punishment,” it said in a statement, warning that the attack signalled “a dangerous development” in the current Israel-Hamas conflict.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incident, but Israeli media, citing senior officials, said that the country was on high alert against “a significant retaliation” by Hamas or its Iranian-backed ally, Hezbollah, including the launching of precision weapons at Israeli cities.

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is in a very high state of readiness in all arenas, both in defence and offence. We are highly prepared for any scenario,” IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said during a briefing to reporters.

Iran on Tuesday condemned Israel’s “despicable” move of assassinating al-Arouri, as well as two commanders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, in the drone strike in Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also strongly condemned the Israeli attack that rocked the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

“The explosion is a new Israeli crime aimed at inevitably dragging Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation, following the daily ongoing assaults in the south, resulting in a significant number of martyrs and wounded individuals,” Mikati said in a statement.

In recent weeks, Israeli officials threatened to assassinate Hamas leaders in Palestinian territories and beyond, particularly al-Arouri, who was accused by Israel of directly being responsible for the “Al-Aqsa Storm” attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which sparked the current Israel-Hamas conflict.

Al-Arouri, 57, is considered one of the prominent Hamas leaders, and a founder of the al-Qassam Brigades and its cells in the West Bank.

He was imprisoned in Israel for more than 18 years and was deported by Israeli authorities from Palestinian territories upon his last release in 2010. In the same year, he was elected as a Hamas politburo member.

Al-Arouri became the No. 2 in the top Hamas leadership body in 2017.

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Pope calls for new Gaza ceasefire

More than 15,500 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory in more than eight weeks of combat and heavy bombardment, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry…reports Asian Lite News

Pope Francis said Sunday that he was saddened the truce in the Gaza Strip had been broken and urged those involved in the conflict to reach a new ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

The pope’s appeal came as international concern deepened over the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza after a truce ended.

Israeli forces bombed wide areas of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, as civilians in the besieged territory sought shelter in an ever-shrinking area of the south.

“There is so much suffering in Gaza,” the pontiff said in comments from his private residence, which were read by an aide and broadcast on giant screens in Saint Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis said the end of the ceasefire meant “death, destruction, misery,” stressing that the besieged Palestinian territory lacked even essential supplies.

He said the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories was “serious.”

“Many hostages have been freed but so many others are still in Gaza,” he said.

More than 15,500 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory in more than eight weeks of combat and heavy bombardment, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The Israeli army reported 17 rocket salvos from Gaza into Israel on Sunday, adding that most were intercepted.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said at least 160 Palestinian deaths were reported in two incidents in northern Gaza Saturday: the bombing of a six-story building in Jabalia refugee camp, and of an entire block in Gaza City.

OCHA said around 1.8 million people in Gaza, roughly 75 percent of the population, had been displaced, many to overcrowded and unsanitary shelters.

Juliette Toma, director of communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said nearly 958,000 displaced people were in 99 UN facilities in the southern Gaza Strip.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged an end to the war, saying civilian suffering was “too much to bear.” Hopes for another temporary truce in Gaza were fading as the US intensified calls for the protection of civilians.

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Pressure On Israel To Prolong Ceasefire

US President Joe Biden said he supports prolonging the ceasefire, which is due to end on Tuesday morning and part of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza

Israel is coming under increasing pressure to agree to an extension of a four-day pause in its war with Hamas.

Hamas said it was willing to prolong the ceasefire, which is due to expire on Monday evening after the final scheduled release of 11 Israeli hostages. The terror group says it is still holding 10-20 women and children eligible for release under the agreement.

On Sunday night, after the release of a four-year-old American girl, President Biden expressed his hopes that the ceasefire could be extended “so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza”. Nine more American-Israelis are among the remaining hostages.

The prime minister of Qatar, which has acted as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, said extending the ceasefire depended on Hamas using the time to locate more than 40 other women and children being held by other groups or individuals.

“If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said. “We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find because … one of the purposes is they will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.”

The United Nations said they had seen people, including those who evaded the guns to return to their homes in northern Gaza during the ceasefire, were moving back south on Sunday in anticipation of the bombardment restarting.

US President Joe Biden said he supports prolonging the ceasefire, which is due to end on Tuesday morning and part of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The halt in fighting is “critically needed” for additional aid to get into the territory and for more captives to be freed.

“This deal is delivering life-saving results,” Biden told reporters on Sunday. “This deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results. That’s my goal. That’s our goal: to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Biden on Sunday and said an extension was possible, reiterating that every extra day of the truce is conditional on 10 more hostages being released. And hesaid Israel will not change its goal of trying to destroy Hamas.

A longer truce “would be welcome,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “At the same time, I also told President Biden that at the end of the outline, we will go to realizing our goals with full force: Eliminating Hamas, ensuring that Gaza will not go back to being what it was and – of course – releasing all of our hostages.”

The temporary halt began on Friday morning after intense negotiations brokered by Qatar, with the help of Egypt and the US. Hamas and Israel agreed that the Iran-backed militant group would free 50 hostages in return for the Israeli government releasing 150 jailed Palestinians.

The pause has held so far and Hamas let go of another 17 people on Sunday, including a four-year-old girl — a US-Israeli dual national — whose parents were killed by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. That attack sparked the war.

Hamas has handed over 58 hostages through Sunday, including non-Israelis. Hamas is slated to free another 11 Israelis on Monday to fulfill the four-day agreement.

Some Israeli officials worry that the longer the pause goes on for, the harder it will be for Israel to restart the war.

“Hamas will stretch this out a long time,” said Joshua Krasna, a former senior Israeli diplomat and intelligence analyst. “The question is how much legitimacy Israel will have to restart its campaign after an extended cease-fire. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for the Israeli government to not continue the cease-fire if Hamas offers to release additional hostages.”

The civilian death toll in Gaza is causing increased concern among Democratic politicians in the US, with some calling for conditioning further military aid to Israel on compliance with international humanitarian law.

The truce includes the delivery of more food and medicine into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The United Nations and Palestinian officials say the war’s created a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory. Israel said 200 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday.

The West Bank Is Being Reshaped Along With the Gaza Strip  The UN says many people still have no food or cooking fuel and that bakeries aren’t operating, raising concerns about nutrition, especially in northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.

The war continues to reverberate in the wider Middle East. On Sunday, a chemical tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire was freed by a US warship after armed men boarded the vessel in the Gulf of Aden. While the US military didn’t confirm the identity of the attackers, two missiles were fired at the warship – a destroyer called the USS Mason – shortly afterwards from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, according to the US military.

No one on the chemical tanker, called the Central Park and part of Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, or the Mason was injured.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen, support Hamas and have fired missiles toward Israel in recent weeks. They’ve also threatened Israeli ships and, on Nov. 19, seized a vehicle carrier called the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea. It’s yet to be released.

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Hamas Seeks Extension of Ceasefire with Israel

Under the terms of the current pause, a total of 50 Israeli hostages will be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners…reports Asian Lite News

Hamas has said that it seeks to extension of the ongoing four-day truce with Israel, which has so far witnessed the release of three groups of Israeli hostages from Gaza and three groups of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails.

The four-day pause in fighting which began on November 24, is set to expire on Monday.

In an official statement on Sunday night, which was sent to the Israeli government through the mediators in Qatar, the Palestinian militant group said it wants “to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement”.

Sources in Israel government told IANS that the government would consider further extension of ceasefire if more hostages in Hamas’s captivity are freed.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire, 67 hostages were released by Hamas.

In exchange, Israel has released 39 Palestinian prisoners, according to the country’s prison service.

Over the weekend, Qatar, which played a central role in mediating the agreement, said it too was hoping to extend the truce, which includes provision for an extension of one extra day for every 10 hostages Hamas is ready to free.

A senior Palestinian official familiar with negotiations taking place in Qatar has told the media that Hamas informed mediators that it is willing to extend the pause by two to four days, and that an extension could see the release of an additional 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners.

Under the terms of the current pause, a total of 50 Israeli hostages will be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.

On November 25, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

But the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) said that there is a regular flow of trucks into Gaza strip through the Rafah crossing and more trucks are likely to reach Gaza during the ceasefire period.

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Israel Receives List as Ceasefire Set for Friday

Egypt, which brokered the Israel-Hamas truce along with Qatar and the US over the past weeks, also confirmed on Thursday that the postponed truce would be enforced at 7 a.m. on Friday in Gaza…reports Asian Lite News

Israel has received a list of hostages due to be released from the Gaza Strip in the first stage of a swap deal reached with Hamas, the Israeli government has confirmed.

Gal Hirsch, the coordinator for hostages and missing at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, said in a statement on Thursday that the government had informed the families of the hostages who were on the list, without revealing further details on the list or when the agreed ceasefire in Gaza would take place, Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement came shortly after Qatar, which acted as a mediator, said that the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza would officially take effect at 7 a.m. local time on Friday.

Egypt, which brokered the Israel-Hamas truce along with Qatar and the US over the past weeks, also confirmed on Thursday that the postponed truce would be enforced at 7 a.m. on Friday in Gaza.

Egypt’s State Information Service Chairman Diaa Rashwan said his country had received two respective lists of the hostages held in Gaza and the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who were to be released Friday.

Israel and Hamas on Wednesday initially agreed to enact a four-day temporary ceasefire in Gaza, starting on Thursday, under a swap deal for Hamas to release at least 50 hostages from Gaza in exchange for some 150 Palestinian detainees held in Israel.

However, Israel’s National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi said in an announcement late Wednesday the deal would not, as expected, come into effect on Thursday.

Israeli troops have been conducting airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 7 in retaliation for a surprise attack staged by Hamas, the militant group that has been ruling the Palestinian enclave since 2007. Israel said the Hamas assault killed about 1,200 people while more than 200 hostages were taken to Gaza.

At the same time, the Palestinian death toll from the relentless Israeli strikes in Gaza has reached 14,532 so far, according to the Hamas-run media office in Gaza.

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Israeli Cabinet Approves 4-Day Ceasefire for Hostage Release

The deal also involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to all parts of Gaza, the Hamas statement added…reports Asian Lite News

The Israeli Cabinet has agreed to a four-day ceasefire and a deal with the Hamas to secure the release of 50 hostages, including women and children, being held in Gaza since the war erupted on October 7.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Cabinet meeting late Tuesday night that the country will not stop the war.

In a statement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said under the deal, the release of every additional 10 hostages will extend the pause in fighting by a day

On Wednesday morning, the Hamas said that 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will be released as part of the deal re.

The prisoners are women and children, the statement said.

The deal also involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to all parts of Gaza, the Hamas statement added.

According to an earlier IANS report, the release of first group of hostages will take place soon.

Qatar and the US have been involved in active mediatory talks with both Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire.

Those opposed to the truce warned the Israeli Cabinet that this partial hostage deal would derail the process of securing all those in captivity and that it would complicate the military offensive against the militant group in Gaza.

Netanyahu however dismissed the scepticism and said: “ We are at war and continue to be at war until our objectives are met including destroy Hamas and all our captives are released.”

Wednesday’s development comes more than a week after a major breakthrough was reached on November 12 when the Hamas — after refusing for days — had relented in offering identifying information about several dozen hostages, such as their age, gender and nationalities.

The information confirmed that numerous children and toddlers had been taken captive on October 7.

Israeli authorities have said that there are at least 236 hostages being held in Gaza.

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Netanyahu Rejects Ceasefire Calls, Demands Hostage Release

According to the Israeli authorities, the Hamas is holding 240 people as hotages in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals…reports Asian Lite News

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza until the Hamas militant group releases all the hostages it took captive after launching the unprecented attack on October 7.

When asked about temporary “humanitarian” pauses in the fighting as suggested by US President Joe Biden and top administration officials, the Prime Minister told ABC News on Monday: “Well, there’ll be no ceasefire, general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages. As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there.

” We’ve had them before, I suppose, will check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave. But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.”

According to the Israeli authorities, the Hamas is holding 240 people as hotages in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals.

Media reports have indicated that about 30 of the them are children.

So far, the militant group released four civilian hostages, while afemale Israeli soldier was rescued by the country’s forces.

Hamas has however, claimed that 57 of the hostages were killed in the the Israeli airstrikes. 

Netanyahu went on to say that a ceasefire “will hamper the war effort”.

“It’ll hamper our effort to get our hostages out because the only thing that works on these criminals in Hamas is the military pressure that we’re exerting.”

When he was asked about a probable halt in the fighting if Hamas agreed to release the hostages, the Israeli leader told ABC News: “There will be a ceasefire for that purpose.”

When Netanyahu was asked who will govern the enclave once and when the raging fighting ends, he indicated that he believed Israel will have a role to play for an “indefinite period”.

“Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas… It certainly is not — I think Israel will, for an indefinite period will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.

“When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” he told ABC News.

Netanyahu also addressed the role of Iran and Hezbollah in the conflict, cautioning them from getting more involved. 

“I think they’ve understood that if they enter the war in a significant way, the response will be very, very powerful and I hope they don’t make that mistake.”

As of Tuesday morning, the war in Gaza have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave, including 4,008 children and 2,550 women.

In Israel, the death toll stood at 1,400,

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Two-month ceasefire in Yemen starts with Ramadan

The truce deal includes stopping military operations, opening Sanaa International Airport to a number of flights, and opening the port of Hodeidah to a number of oil derivatives ships, reports Asian Lite News

Yemen’s Houthi militia have welcomed an announcement of a two-month ceasefire agreement by the UN Special Envoy for the country, Hans Grundberg, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“We welcome the announcement by the UN envoy for Yemen of a humanitarian truce for two months,” Xinhua news agency quoted Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam as saying in a statement.

“The truce deal includes stopping military operations, opening Sanaa International Airport to a number of flights, and opening the port of Hodeidah to a number of oil derivatives ships,” he said.

On Friday, the UN envoy announced earlier the truce between the warring parties in Yemen.

“The parties accepted to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside Yemen and across its borders; they also agreed for fuel ships to enter Hodeidah ports and commercial flights to operate in and out of Sanaa airport to predetermined destinations in the region; they further agreed to meet under my auspices to open roads in Taiz and other governorates in Yemen,” Grundberg said.

“The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month period with the consent of the parties. The aim of this truce is to give Yemenis a necessary break from violence, relief from the humanitarian suffering, and most importantly hope that an end to this conflict is possible,” he added.

The envoy also said that he would work during the truce with the aim to reach a permanent ceasefire, addressing urgent economic and humanitarian measures and resuming the political process.

This is the first breakthrough in the seven-year civil war in Yemen.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, according to UN.

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