A Qatari official noted that the leaders of Hamas’s negotiating team are currently not in Doha and are instead moving between various capitals….reports Asian Lite News
A spokesperson from the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the Hamas political office in Doha has not been permanently closed.
“If Hamas’s political office were to be closed, it would be announced by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, not through other channels,” Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.
He added, “the leaders of the Hamas negotiating team are not currently in Doha and are moving between various capitals.”
Responding to the suspension of Qatar’s mediation efforts to Gaza ceasefire talks, Al Ansari said it “was attributed to the lack of seriousness from the involved parties,” reiterating the country’s consistent stance and calling for a ceasefire and the facilitation of aid into the Gaza Strip, Xinhua news agency reported.
The ministry announced earlier this month that Qatar’s mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel are currently “stalled.”
Hamas is demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and said Netanyahu’s position “aims to thwart reaching an agreement”…reports Asian Lite News
Hamas called on the United States Thursday to “exert real pressure” on Israel to reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there is no deal in the making.
The two sides have traded blame over stalling talks for a ceasefire and hostage exchange as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining captives, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.
“If the US administration and its President (Joe) Biden really want to reach a ceasefire and complete a prisoner exchange deal, they must abandon their blind bias toward the Zionist occupation,” Hamas’s Qatar-based lead negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya said, calling on the US to “exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government.”
But Netanyahu told US talk show Fox & Friends: “There is not a deal in the making… Unfortunately, it’s not close but we will do everything we can to get them to the point where they do make a deal and at the same time we prevent Iran from resupplying Gaza as this great terror enclave.”
Netanyahu insists that Israel must retain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel started the war.
Hamas is demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu’s position “aims to thwart reaching an agreement.”
The Palestinian militant group says a new deal is unnecessary because they agreed months ago to a truce outlined by Biden.
“We do not need new proposals,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu… who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the group said.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby nonetheless said that Washington believes a ceasefire deal is 90 percent agreed.
But he added that “nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated, and the things that are still in play right now are very, very detailed… issues, and that’s when things get difficult.”
At Israeli protests in several cities this week, Netanyahu’s critics have blamed him for hostages’ deaths, saying he has refused to make necessary concessions for striking a ceasefire deal.
“We’ll do everything so that all hostages will be with us. And if the leaders don’t want to sign a deal, we’ll make them,” said Gil Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat, one of the six hostages whose bodies were found in a Gaza tunnel last week.
Dickmann took part in an anti-government rally at Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, where crowds of demonstrators carried symbolic coffins in a procession. Key mediator Qatar has said that Israel’s approach was “based on an attempt to falsify facts and mislead world public opinion by repeating lies.” Such moves “will ultimately lead to the demise of peace efforts,” Qatar’s foreign ministry warned.
The October 7 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages killed in captivity, according to official Israeli figures.
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,878 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.
Strikes continued across Gaza on Thursday, with medics and rescuers reporting a total of 12 dead in separate attacks in the north and south of the territory.
While Israel presses its Gaza offensive, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the military should use its “full strength” against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.
“These terrorist organizations that have various names, whether in Nur Al-Shams, Tulkarem, Faraa or Jenin, must be wiped out,” he said, referring to cities and refugee camps where an Israeli military operation is underway.
The Israeli military said Thursday its aircraft “conducted three targeted strikes on armed terrorists” in the Tubas area, which includes Faraa refugee camp. A strike on a car killed five men aged 21 to 30 and wounded two others, the territory’s health ministry said.
Eyewitnesses said they saw a large number of Israeli troops storming Faraa camp, where explosions were heard.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military handed over the dead body of a 17-year-old, after medics were prevented from reaching him when he was wounded.
Israel has killed at least 36 Palestinians across the northern West Bank since its assault there started on August 28, according to figures released by the health ministry, including children and militants. One Israeli soldier was killed in Jenin, where the majority of the Palestinian fatalities have been.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has left the territory in ruins, with the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure blamed for the spread of disease. The humanitarian crisis has led to Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years, prompting a massive vaccination effort launched Sunday with localized “humanitarian pauses” in fighting.
Nearly 200,000 children in central Gaza have received a first dose, the World Health Organization said, and a second stage got underway Thursday in the south, before medics move north. The campaign aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children, with second doses due in about four weeks.
Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned however that the vaccination drive in the south may not reach all children, as some do not reside in the designated humanitarian zones where Israel has agreed not to strike.
Tensions intensified following the assassinations of Hezbollah’s senior military commander, Fouad Shokor, in Beirut, and Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on July 31….reports Asian Lite News
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries urged all actors involved in the current Middle East crisis to refrain from any step that could possibly escalate the conflict further.
“We call on the parties concerned to desist from any initiative that could hinder the path of dialogue and moderation and encourage a new escalation,” the G7 Italian presidency said in a statement on Sunday.
After discussing the latest developments in a videoconference, the ministers expressed “strong concern about recent events that threaten to lead to a regionalisation of the crisis, starting with Lebanon,” according to Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The G7 extraordinary meeting was called after a recent escalation in the crisis, reports Xinhua news agency.
Tensions escalated after the assassinations of Lebanese group Hezbollah’s senior military commander, Fouad Shokor, in Beirut and Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31.
A few days earlier, a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights had killed 12 children and teens.
Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killings and threatened to retaliate. Israel claimed responsibility for Shokor’s death, saying it was in retaliation to the strike in the Golan, but it did not confirm involvement in the killing of Haniyeh.
Since then, the exchange of fire and rockets ongoing across the Israel-Lebanon border has intensified, and so have the diplomatic efforts to contain the crisis.
“We reaffirmed the priority of a successful conclusion of negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages and confirmed our commitment to intensify humanitarian aid to the populations of the Strip,” the G7 presidency stressed.
Also on Sunday, Italy’s Foreign Minister called on all Italians temporarily in Lebanon to leave the country as soon as possible due to “the worsening situation” and to all citizens to avoid travelling there. Earlier, many other governments, including those of France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Jordan also issued advisories.
The G7 comprises Canada, the US, France, the UK, Italy, Germany and Japan.
UK foreign office issued a statement urging British nationals to leave Lebanon when commercial transportation is still operational….reports Asian Lite News
Many countries, including the UK, Sweden, Jordan, and the US, have asked their citizens to depart from Lebanon in light of the escalating crisis between Israel and Hezbollah.
On Saturday, the UK foreign office issued a statement urging British nationals to leave Lebanon when commercial transportation is still operational.
The foreign office posted the advisory on social media platform X, requiring British citizens to “leave now.”
“Border Force, consular officials and military personnel are being deployed to the Middle East to support British embassy staff,” the advisory added.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also issued a notice urging its citizens not to travel to Lebanon temporarily and requesting the citizens residing there to “evacuate promptly.”
The notice said that the recommendation is a precautionary measure in anticipation of the potential security situation in Lebanon following the escalating conflict with Israel after Hezbollah commander Fouad Shokor.
The ministry also advised Jordanian citizens to maintain the “highest level of vigilance” and follow the directives issued by Lebanese authorities.
Additionally, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom also warned of the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry also decided to temporarily close its embassy in Beirut for one month and withdraw all diplomatic personnel for security reasons.
The ministry also urged all Swedish citizens to “leave the country by whichever means possible while they still can.”
Moreover, the US Embassy in Beirut also issued a fresh “security alert” on Saturday, asking the American citizens in Lebanon wishing to depart the country to book “any ticket available to them”, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their first-choice route.
“The US Embassy notes several airlines have suspended or cancelled flights, and many flights have sold out; however, commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available. Please see available flight options at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport,” the alert stated.
It mentioned that citizens who lack funds to return to the United States may contact the embassy for financial assistance via repatriation loans.
Earlier, India also urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country and avoid travelling there in view of “potential threats in the region.”
“In view of recent developments and potential threats in the region, Indian nationals are strongly advised against travelling to Lebanon till further notice,” the Indian Embassy in Beirut said in an updated advisory.’
Tehran made the plea in phone calls with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, while stressing that Iran reserved its “inherent and legitimate” right to retaliate the “blatant crime,”…reports Asian Lite News
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
He made the plea in phone calls with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, while stressing that Iran reserved its “inherent and legitimate” right to retaliate the “blatant crime,” according to statements released by his ministry.
Speaking to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Bagheri Kani said Israel had seriously jeopardized regional stability and security by crossing several red lines, citing its “terrorist aggression” in assassinating Haniyeh and violating Iran’s national security.
The strike on Haniyeh, widely attributed to Israel, was not acknowledged or commented upon by the Israeli government.
Bagheri Kani stressed that Iran would take a “regret-inducing and decisive action” against Israel to make it “eternally rue its constant insanity,” calling for convening an emergency OIC meeting to discuss the “conspicuous Israeli crime.”
The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and action against Iran’s territorial integrity, assessing the region’s current circumstances as “critical and dangerous.”
He highlighted the necessity of de-escalating tensions in the region, welcoming the holding of the OIC meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.
In his phone call with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Bagheri Kani urged all regional and Muslim states to take action to counter the “terrorist aggression” by Israel.
The Egyptian minister said his country had, in an official statement, condemned the “criminal” move of assassinating Haniyeh, while supporting Iran’s initiative for convening an OIC meeting to counter the “terrorist actions.”
With Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Bagheri Kani said, “Israel martyred a prominent figure of the Muslim world and an indefatigable warrior of the Palestinian resistance.”
Urging for the OIC meeting, Bagheri Kani called on all regional states to condemn the “heinous Israeli crime” and take “decisive” actions to counter such “terrorist moves.”
Fidan condemned the “terrorist move,” saying Türkiye fully supported Iran’s “legitimate and diplomatic” initiative to hold an emergency OIC meeting.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in his phone call with Bagheri Kani, expressed condemnation of the assassination of Haniyeh, and welcomed the immediate holding of an OIC meeting.
Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which said Israel had carried out the “terrorist attack” and vowed “a harsh and painful response.”
Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel
As tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East, dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israeli territory in the late hours of Thursday (local time), CNN reported citing Israel Defence Forces.
The IDF said that only five of the barrage of rockets could enter Israel and there are no reports of damage or injuries.
Hezbollah has taken responsibility for the rocket fire on Western Galilee, its first attack in over 48 hours, since the killing of the terror group’s military chief in Beirut, Times of Israel reported.
In a statement, Hezbollah claims to have launched dozens of rockets at the northern border community of Metzuba in response to an Israeli strike in the Lebanese village of Chamaa earlier today.
The strike in Chamaa reportedly killed four Syrians and wounded several Lebanese civilians.
In response, the Israeli forces struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Yater, which was being used to fire a barrage at the Western Galilee this evening, as reported by Times of Israel.
According to the IDF, several rockets launched in the attack this evening were intercepted by air defences, while others impacted open areas.
The IDF says that a short while after the attack, the launcher in Yater was struck.
Houthi leader vows ‘military response’
Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has warned that the group will “inevitably” mount a military response to Israel’s recent “escalation”.
“The stance of the ‘axis of resistance’ is unequivocal: There must be a military response to Israeli transgressions,” al-Houthi said on Thursday in a televised address.
The Houthi leader condemned the killing of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh as “a blatant violation of international norms”, and “a brazen crime that underscores Israel’s disregard for human rights”, Xinhua news agency reported.
He further denounced Tuesday’s Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shokor, labelling it a “dangerous escalation.”
The Houthi group, now controlling large swathes of northern Yemen, is aligned with the anti-Israel “axis of resistance,” which also includes Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and militant groups in Iraq, among others.
Since November last year, the Houthi group has been targeting ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden using ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East urged both sides to take urgent, immediate steps to deescalate the situation….reports Asian Lite News
The UN on Tuesday expressed serious concerns about the risk of an escalation in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, warning that not only would it cause even more suffering and devastation to the people of Lebanon and Israel but also “more potentially catastrophic consequences for the region.”
Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East urged both sides to take urgent, immediate steps to deescalate the situation.
Tensions along the border between Israel and Lebanon continue to escalate. Cross-border exchanges of fire have increased in recent weeks, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to warn that the risk of the conflict spreading to the wider region “is real and must be avoided.”
Wennesland was speaking during a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the implementation of Resolution 2334, which was adopted in 2016 and demands an end to all Israeli settlement activity, immediate steps to prevent violence and acts of terror against civilians, and calls on both sides to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.
Wennesland said he was “deeply troubled” by continuing Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and reiterated that all settlements “have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law.” He called on Israel to cease all such activity immediately.
Escalating violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are also deeply worrying, Wennesland said.
“Intensified armed exchanges between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, alongside lethal attacks by Palestinians against Israelis and by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, have also exacerbated tensions and led to exceedingly high levels of casualties and detentions. All perpetrators of attacks must be held accountable,” he added.
Wennesland blamed regional instability on the ongoing hostilities in Gaza and stressed the need for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“There is a deal on the table and it should be agreed,” he told council members. “I welcome the efforts, including by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach such deal.”
He lamented the fact that effective mechanisms from Israel to provide humanitarian notifications, safe conditions for humanitarian operations, and sufficient access for aid workers to address humanitarian needs remain “sorely lacking and must be put in place without delay.”
Wennesland added: “Hunger and food insecurity persist. While projections of imminent famine in the northern governates have been averted through an increase in food deliveries, food insecurity has worsened in the south.
“Nearly all of Gaza’s population continues to face high levels of food insecurity, with nearly half a million people facing ‘catastrophic’ insecurity.”
Senior UN officials told Israeli authorities on Tuesday they will suspend aid operations across the battered enclave unless urgent steps are taken to protect humanitarian workers.
The UN World Food Program has already suspended aid deliveries from a US-built pier in Gaza over security concerns. This comes at a time when the amounts of essential goods allowed into Gaza continue to fall far short of the needs of the population, Wennesland said.
The Palestinian Authority’s fiscal situation remains “very precarious,” he added. Israel’s finance minister has announced his intention to continue blocking the transfer of all clearance revenues to the PA, and to take action that would end relations between Israeli and Palestinian banks at the end of June.
With no firm public response yet from Hamas or Israel to the proposal they received 10 days ago, Blinken started his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October …reports Asian Lite News
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his latest trip to the Middle East, where America’s top diplomat urged approval of a ceasefire proposal that faced new uncertainty following Israel’s hostage rescue operation that killed many Palestinians and turmoil in Netanyahu’s government.
With no firm public response yet from Hamas or Israel to the proposal they received 10 days ago, Blinken started his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October by meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, a key mediator with the militant Hamas group. He then flew to Israel for talks with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
Blinken once again called on Hamas to accept the plan, which he said has wide international support.
“If you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say ‘yes,’” he told reporters before leaving Cairo on the trip that also will take him to Jordan and Qatar. Blinken said Israel has accepted the proposal, though Netanyahu has expressed skepticism.
“I know that there are those who are pessimistic about the prospects,” Blinken said, putting the onus on Hamas. “That’s understandable. Hamas continues to show extraordinary cynicism in its actions, a disinterest not only in the well-being and security of Israelis but also Palestinians.”
While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other US officials have praised the rescue of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the operation resulted in the deaths of 274 Palestinian civilians and may complicate the ceasefire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas’ resolve to carry on fighting in the war that started with its Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Blinken said the plan is the “single best way” to get to a ceasefire, release the remaining hostages and improve regional security.
In his talks with El-Sisi, Blinken also discussed plans for post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza.
“It’s imperative that there be a plan, and that has to involve security, it has to involve governance, it has to involve reconstruction,” Blinken said.
Netanyahu and his government have resisted calls for any “day after” plan that would bar Israel from having some form of security presence in the territory. Blinken said he would urge Israel to come up with alternatives that would be acceptable.
“It would be very good if Israel put forward its own ideas on this, and I’ll be talking to the government about that,” he said. “But one way or another, we’ve got to have these plans, we’ve got to have them in place, we’ve got to be ready to go if we want to take advantage of a ceasefire.”
The three-phase plan calls for the release of more hostages and a temporary pause in hostilities that will last as long as it takes to negotiate the second phase, which aims to bring the release of all hostages, a “full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” and “a permanent end to hostilities,” according to an American-drafted resolution put before the UN Security Council. The third phase calls for reconstruction in Gaza.
The Security Council voted Monday to approve the resolution, which welcomes the proposal and urges Hamas to accept it. The vote on the US-sponsored resolution was 14-0, with Russia abstaining.
But Hamas may not be the only obstacle.
Although the deal has been described as an Israeli initiative and thousands of Israelis have demonstrated to support it, Netanyahu has expressed skepticism, saying what has been presented publicly is not accurate and that Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies have threatened to collapse his government if he implements the plan. Benny Gantz, a popular centrist, resigned on Sunday from the three-member War Cabinet after saying he would do so if the prime minister did not formulate a new plan for postwar Gaza.
In the aftermath of the hostage rescue, Netanyahu had urged him not to step down.
Blinken has met with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Gantz and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on nearly all his previous trips to Israel. Officials said Blinken is expected to meet with Gantz on Tuesday.
Despite Blinken’s roughly once-a-month visits to the region since the war began, the conflict has ground on with more than 37,120 Palestinians killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and took around 250 people hostage.
The war has severely hindered the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza, who are facing widespread hunger. UN agencies say more than 1 million people in the territory could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
In Jordan, Blinken will take part in an emergency international conference on improving the flow of aid to Gaza.
Ashoka University.(photo: Ashoka University website)
The students urged the severance of ties until Tel Aviv University takes concrete steps to address ethical concerns….reports Asian Lite News
Students at Ashoka University have added their voices to the growing chorus of protests against the conflict in Gaza, urging the institution’s vice-chancellor to terminate all academic and research collaborations with Tel Aviv University in Israel, media reported.
The student government, representing the student body, penned a letter to the vice chancellor, expressing concern that the university’s affiliations with institutions associated with human rights violations contradict its purported commitment to justice and human rights, news agency PTI reported.
Citing the ongoing crisis in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives and many more have been injured, the students condemned what they termed as Israeli military brutality. They highlighted a trend among students across various universities to call for boycotts of Israeli academic institutions and exchange programs, emphasizing recent protests at Columbia University as a motivating example.
The students pointed out that Ashoka University, located in Haryana’s Sonipat, has established research partnerships, faculty exchanges, research collaborations, and joint programs with Tel Aviv University. They urged the severance of ties until Tel Aviv University takes concrete steps to address ethical concerns.
Allegations against Tel Aviv University include close associations with the Israeli military, support for the occupation of Palestinian territories, and collaboration with Israeli weapons manufacturers such as Elbit Systems. The students accused Tel Aviv University professors of involvement in drafting codes of ethics for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), providing legal defense for IDF members accused of war crimes, and shaping military doctrines.
Additionally, the students cited the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which advocates for the boycott of entities implicated in the Gaza conflict. They highlighted the destruction of Palestinian universities by Israeli forces and criticized Tel Aviv University’s alleged suppression of Palestinian voices.
The petition stressed Tel Aviv University’s obligation to uphold academic freedom, social justice, and human rights principles. It argued that maintaining ties with an institution linked to human rights abuses implicates Ashoka University in these violations. Against the backdrop of international concerns over the conflict, the students urged Ashoka University to demonstrate its commitment to ethical conduct and human rights by severing ties with Tel Aviv University.
The delegation, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, will conduct negotiations via Qatari and Egyptian mediators…reports Asian Lite News
A senior delegation from Israel is to reach Doha on Monday to resume the indirect talks for a ceasefire.
The Israel security cabinet, according to sources, on Sunday night decided to send a delegation to Qatar for indirect talks about a temporary truce in Gaza and a hostage release.
The delegation, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, will conduct negotiations via Qatari and Egyptian mediators, according to information available.
However, there would be consultations with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant before sealing a truce accord, sources told IANS.
The Doha discussions commencing from Monday will cover the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, including the number of Palestinian prisoners who could potentially be released in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages.
The expected talks would mark the first time both Israeli officials and Hamas leaders join the indirect negotiations since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan last week.
Mediators had hoped to secure a six-week truce before then, but Hamas refused any deal that wouldn’t lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Israel had rejected the idea in toto and had called upon the international community, including the US, that it won’t agree for a permanent ceasefire until Hamas is eliminated in full.
Over the past week, however, both sides have made moves aimed at getting the talks on and according to information available, the first stage would be a six-week temporary ceasefire that would include the release of 35 hostages held in captivity in Gaza by Hamas in exchange for 350 Palestine prisoners.
This consists of women and those who are ill and older people. The militant outfit would also release at least five female soldiers in exchange for 50 prisoners, including some serving long sentences on terror charges, including murder.
The Israel side has, however, told the mediators that they won’t agree for any talks on permanent ceasefire and further demands would be taken up once the Doha talks commences.
S. Jaishankar, in a brilliant exposition, explained that India was not “anti-West but non-West” and affirmed that India’s relationship with the US and Europe was getting strengthened constantly, writes D.C. Pathak
In the background of India’s clear stand on the Hamas-Israel conflict denouncing the “terror” attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7 last year and endorsing the support of the US for the initial Israeli response to the same, and the country’s independent line on the much older Ukraine-Russia military confrontation which led India to even abstain from voting on the anti-Soviet resolution moved early on by the US in the UNGA, it was no surprise that at the Munich Security Conference held from February 16 to 18, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar faced some searching questions on India’s foreign policy, in one of the interactive sessions.
The EAM did extremely well in detailing India’s policy approach in clear convincing terms, which is a tribute to his grip on India’s international relations as much as it is a confirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successful stand that India’s foreign policy essentially rested on bilateral — and even multilateral — bonds meant to serve mutual security and economic interests without prejudicing the cause of world peace and global advancement of human development.
S. Jaishankar chose the words “smart policies” to describe India’s handling of international relations in this light and in reply to a reference to “non-alignment” made by the convener of the session, explaining that the global security environment is not “static” and that ideologically “fixed positions” could only come in the way of evolving a pathway of progress towards solution-finding for complex geopolitical and geoeconomic problems of today.
He indicated that being “smart” is being “positive” about serving the country’s national interests without hurting anybody else’s and embracing transparency in policy formulation.
Munich Security Conference is the world’s largest gathering of its kind debating pressing security concerns of the times under its mission of ‘Peace through Dialogue’.
This time it brought together heads of state and government of a large number of countries, foreign and defence ministers, security experts, military leaders besides defence industry captains and provided a venue for important diplomatic initiatives and interactions. Its membership cuts across BRICS and G7, and includes representatives of NATO and EU countries.
S. Jaishankar, in a brilliant exposition, explained that India was not “anti-West but non-West” and affirmed that India’s relationship with the US and Europe was getting strengthened constantly.
He highlighted the positive role of India in BRICS and the country’s contribution towards the expansion of G7 into G20 — all through the process of discussions and meetings — and succeeded in presenting India as a major independent power helping the cause of world peace and economic development.
He interacted with the Chinese Foreign Minister on the sidelines and had a separate extensive discussion with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to review the situation in West Asia, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.
The Munich Security Conference confirmed that India’s participation was acknowledged by the world as being of crucial importance and that it helped to evolve shared perspectives for leveraging the collaborative effort of India and the US to address common challenges and harness mutual benefits.
In today’s unsafe world environment and an uneven trajectory of the global economy, India is registering rapid growth, moving towards self-reliance in various spheres including defence and security and pushing up a sense of nationalism among Indians based on India’s civilisational strength that unites rather than divides the people.
India and the US, the two largest tested democracies of the world, recognise the importance of working together to save the ‘rules-based order’ at a time when forces of Marxist dictatorship and ‘fundamentalist’ dispensations were joining hands to destabilise the world.
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan now developed to the point where these two adversaries are collaborating in conducting covert operations against India, particularly in the border states of J&K and Punjab, which is a prime security threat for India and validates India’s policy of strengthening Indo-US relations generally and stepping up its association with the Quad.
Terrorism resulting from the spread of radicalisation in the Islamic world is another common concern that binds India and the US together in leading the democratic world against this new global threat.
An important task before India is to get policymakers of the US to see Pakistan without tinted glasses and overcome the legacy of the Pentagon’s commitment to the Pak generals.
It would do them good to recall that Pakistan was a reluctant partner of the US in the ‘war on terror’ and that it managed to keep an equation with Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS.
Pakistan helped the installation of the Taliban Emirate at Kabul in 1996 and ensured the subsequent return of Taliban rule to Afghanistan in 2021 on the conclusion of Doha peace talks that were held to facilitate the withdrawal of American troops from the messy Afghan territory.
Pakistan had pretended to be a mediator in these talks but was in fact advancing its duplicitous policy of remaining on the right side of the US without giving up on its faith-based commitment to sustaining Islamic radical outfits.
The US is hopefully coming out of the flawed old policy of trying to create a balancing interface between Indo-US and US-Pakistan relationships.
Pakistan has made the Pak-Afghan belt a home ground for Islamic radical forces and supported China’s ingress into Afghanistan through the latter’s Belt& Road Initiative (BRI).
It had already allowed the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) to pass through the Northern Areas of POK against strong protestation by India.
The Sino-Pak axis is influencing the current geopolitics in a major way and the American administration must take a call on this as a shared concern of India and the US.
In the recent election in Pakistan, the Army came in the way of Imran Khan who had consistently condemned the US and who was compelled to fight the election from prison without availing of any party symbol.
This, however, should bring no comfort to America because in the uncertain political scene in Pakistan that prevailed through the polls, ‘radicalism’ in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Afghanistan region did become stronger.
Both the US and India realise that the Israel-Hamas conflict sparked off by the planned attack of radicalised Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, drew attention to a worrying new factor in the Middle East – the constant advance made by Islamic radical forces wedded to ‘faith-based’ terror, in the Muslim world.
The old ‘political’ dispute between Israel and Palestine is now overtaken by a confrontation driven by ‘religion and Jehad’ — this should cause serious concern to the world at large.
India under Prime Minister Modi has been exceptionally successful in countering this trend by pushing up economic development in West Asia to the top of the regional agenda and pitching on the “connectivity” of the Middle East with the rest of the world as a means of furthering that project.
Again, India’s initiatives in this regard rest on the fundamental policy of forging bilateral bonds for mutual security and economic benefits.
As a consequence of this, there is now a dividing line between close US friends like Saudi Arabia and UAE with their approach of moderation towards Israel and the radical states like Yemen, Syria and Qatar who supported Hamas’ stand of refusing to recognise the very existence of the Israel state.
There is also a new level of Shia-Sunni conflict in West Asia because the fundamentalist regime of Ayatollahs in Iran with its total antipathy towards the US and Israel was actively encouraging its ‘proxies’ in the region to fight for Hamas and against Israel.
India has done the right thing in denouncing the attack of Hamas on Israel and calling for caution on the part of Israel so that in its pursuit of Hamas, civilian casualties of the Palestinian population did not throw up a ‘human’ crisis.
India also made it clear that it favoured the “two-state solution” in Palestine.
India has joined hands with the US and Europe to launch the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor to promote the cause of global economic growth and check the spread of Islamic radical forces in the region.
India understands the US anxiety about the release of hostages captured by Hamas for using them as a “weapon” against Israel and hopes that with the mediation of a country like Egypt, a pause in the military drive of Israel would strengthen the prospect of the release of hostages.
India has taken an independent-looking stand on the Middle East just as it had shown an upright response to the Ukraine-Russia military conflict, with Prime Minister Modi declaring at the beginning of that confrontation itself that “this is not an era of war” and calling for a cessation of hostilities in favour of talks for peace in which security concerns of both sides would be given due attention.
The stand of India has been understood by the world at large. At the Munich Security Conference, S. Jaishankar convincingly reiterated how India’s responses to the Ukraine-Russia and the Israel-Hamas conflicts best served the cause of global peace without letting the old political constructs of “alignment” come in the way.
For India, the priority was to constantly seek the betterment of its people through the pursuit of bilaterally useful economic benefits that did not hurt anybody else.
Munich has helped — because of the interventions of S. Jaishankar — to project India’s foreign policy as the voice of sanity in today’s conflict-prone global scenario.
(The writer is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Views are personal)
