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We start with news that Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source has told Reuters.
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The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
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It reported:
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A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
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A source in Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.
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A spokesperson for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his office said talks would continue next week and emphasised that gaps between the sides still remained.
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Meanwhile, in other news:
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Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and top Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire there during a meeting, Hezbollah said on Friday. Nasrallah received Hamas deputy chief Hayya for the meeting, which reviewed “the latest security and political developments” in the Gaza Strip.
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Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was quoted by Turkish media as saying he hoped a “final ceasefire” could be secured “in a couple of days”, and urged western countries to put pressure on Israel to accept the terms on offer.
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Seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military offensive on the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said. Israel’s military said in a statement its forces had encircled a building where militants had barricaded themselves in, and that an Israeli aircraft had struck targets in the area. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said military vehicles surrounded a house in a Jenin refugee camp and loudspeaker demands were made for an occupant to surrender. Shoulder-fired missiles were then used and a drone attacked the house, it added.
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On 20 May, the same day international criminal court prosecutor Karim Khan made a surprise request for warrants to arrest the leaders of Israel and Hamas involved in the Gaza conflict, he suddenly cancelled a sensitive mission to collect evidence in the region, eight people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Planning for the visit had been under way for months with US officials, four of the sources said. Khan’s move has harmed operational cooperation with the US and angered the UK a sources told Reuters.
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Hamas said on Friday it rejected any statements and positions that support plans for foreign forces to enter the Gaza Strip under any name or justification. The group said the administration of the Gaza Strip is a purely Palestinian matter. “The Palestinian people … will not allow any guardianship or the imposition of any external solutions or equations,” it added.
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Hezbollah said it had fired 200 rockets into Israel in one of its largest barrages yet. Israel confirmed the Iran-backed militant group had fired “numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets” from Lebanon on Thursday towards the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and more than 15 drones into Israeli territory, many of which it said were intercepted. An Israeli military spokesperson said there were no casualties reported.
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Important Events
Lorenzo Tondo
Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea travelled alone to Doha to meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and consider a Hamas proposal to halt the nearly nine-month-old war, state broadcaster Kan reported, citing a senior Israeli official.
Netanyahu will return to Israel after the initial talks and negotiations are expected to resume next week, his office said in a statement late on Friday.
The United States appears to be excited about the recently resumed contacts between Israel and Hamas, with the White House describing Hamas’ latest ceasefire proposal as a “breakthrough” that would establish a framework for a hostage deal.
“We think the framework is in place. We just need to work out the implementation steps,” a senior U.S. administration official said. “What we’ve heard from Hamas is a significant revision of their previous positions, which is encouraging, and we’ve heard the same from Israel.”
The main sticking point in the negotiations until this week had been widely differing views on how the agreement should move from phase one to phase two.
Summary at the beginning
We’re back with our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the Middle East crisis. Tom Ambrose here, with us all day today bringing you the latest news from the region.
Let’s start with the news Hamas has accepted a US proposal to start talks for the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men.A senior Hamas source spoke to Reuters, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement to end the Gaza war was reached.
The Islamist group will drop its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing any deal and allow negotiations to achieve that through a six-week first phase, said a source speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
According to the report:
Palestinian officials close to internationally-brokered peace efforts said the proposal, if accepted by Israel, could lead to a framework agreement and bring an end to the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A source from the Israeli negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a real chance of reaching an agreement, in contrast to previous instances in the nine-month Gaza conflict when Israel said the terms offered by Hamas were unacceptable.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The prime minister’s office said Friday that talks would continue next week, emphasizing that rifts remain between the two sides.
Meanwhile, in other news:
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Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader, Said Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas official Khalil al-Khayya met to discuss the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and negotiations for a ceasefire, Hezbollah said on Friday. Nasrallah welcomed Hamas Deputy Head of State Haya to the meeting and reviewed the “latest security and political situation” in the Gaza Strip.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped a “final ceasefire” could be secured “within days,” according to Turkish media reports.called on Western countries to pressure Israel to accept the terms offered to it.
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The Palestinian Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday. The Israeli army said in a statement that troops surrounded the building where the militants were holed up and that Israeli aircraft struck targets in the area. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said military vehicles surrounded a house in the Jenin refugee camp and used loudspeakers to demand that residents surrender. It added that shoulder-fired missiles were then used and drones struck the house.
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On May 20, the same day International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan suddenly sought arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders involved in the Gaza conflict, he abruptly canceled a sensitive mission to gather evidence in the region, eight people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The visit had been planned for months with U.S. officials, four of the sources said. Khan’s actions had damaged operational cooperation with the United States and angered Britain, the sources told Reuters.
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Hamas said on Friday that it rejects any statement or position supporting plans for foreign forces to invade the Gaza Strip under any pretext or reason. The group said governance of the Gaza Strip was a purely Palestinian issue, adding that “the Palestinian people will not accept any guardianship or the imposition of external solutions or formulas.”
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Hezbollah said it had fired 200 rockets at Israel, its largest attack to date.Israel confirmed that Iran-backed militant groups fired “numerous projectiles and suspected aerial targets” from Lebanon into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on Thursday and launched more than 15 drones into Israeli territory, many of which were intercepted. An Israeli military spokesman said there were no reports of casualties.
