GAZA STRIP: Regarding an anticipated agreement that will also release Israeli captives detained in Gaza, US President Joe Biden stated on Monday that a fresh ceasefire between Israel and Hamas may begin as early as March 4 and run through Ramadan.
Negotiations are still underway, but mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been presenting ideas to the parties in an effort to mediate a ceasefire.
They want the combat to stop for six weeks and the detainees to be released.
According to media sources, the truce agreement may entail the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.
When asked when a truce may begin, Biden responded, “My hope is by next Monday (March 4) we’ll have a ceasefire,” adding, “We’re close, we’re not done yet.”
A six-week truce and prisoner swap are proposed by negotiators.
He then stated that a temporary truce that would continue until Ramadan was “in principle” in reach.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, who helped arrange a one-week ceasefire in November and is currently hosting Hamas leaders in his nation, landed in Paris on Tuesday.
As part of his request for a “immediate and permanent ceasefire agreement,” Sheikh Tamim met with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in Doha, according to the official Qatar News Agency.
A ground invasion of Rafah, in the deep south of the Gaza Strip, will not be prevented by a truce, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasized.
Israel has been under intense international pressure, particularly from the US, to delay deploying troops into Rafah, where roughly 1.4 million Palestinian civilians have taken sanctuary.
Although no information on the potential destinations of the displaced individuals has been made public, Netanyahu’s office stated on Monday that the Israeli military has presented its plan for evacuating residents from Rafah to the “war cabinet.”
