Hamas and Israel accuse each other of stalling truce negotiations

Hamas and Israel accused each other Saturday of stalling their indirect negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza, where more than 20 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to the local Civil Defense.

A Palestinian source close to the talks, which began Sunday in Doha through foreign mediators, initially blamed "Israel's insistence" on a plan to withdraw its troops from Gaza, a plan Hamas "firmly rejects." An Israeli political official responded in the evening by accusing Hamas of refusing to "make compromises" and waging "a psychological war aimed at sabotaging the negotiations."

The war in Gaza was triggered by a bloody Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a destructive offensive, seizing vast sectors of the Palestinian coastal strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently reaffirmed his country's objectives: to free the hostages still being held, disarm Hamas and drive it out of Gaza.

The negotiations in Doha face "complex obstacles and difficulties," the Palestinian source told AFP, claiming that Israel is clinging to a map that calls for "maintaining [its] forces on more than 40% of the area of Gaza." According to the source, the Israeli army is considering redeploying all around the territory of more than two million inhabitants, besieged by Israel for 21 months and living in terrible conditions according to the U.N.

'Some progress' despite everything

Seven U.N. agencies warned in a joint statement that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached a "critical level" and constitutes a "new unbearable burden" for "a population on the brink of famine."

Israel aims to "cram hundreds of thousands of displaced people" into southern Gaza, "in preparation for the forced displacement of the population to Egypt or other countries," the same Palestinian source claimed.

Nevertheless, a second Palestinian source reported "progress" on issues related to humanitarian aid entering Gaza and swapping hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Of the 251 people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack, 49 remain held in Gaza, 27 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.

"Israel has demonstrated its willingness to show flexibility in the negotiations," the Israeli official emphasized, as local media report that a new military withdrawal plan might be presented in Doha.

In Tel Aviv, thousands gathered, as they do every Saturday evening, to demand the return of the hostages. "Would you be as slow to free Auschwitz?" read a banner aimed at the government. "The window of opportunity to bring home all the hostages, alive and dead, is open for the moment, but it won't last long," insisted former hostage Eli Sharabi, calling on U.S. President Donald Trump for help.

Plumes of smoke

In the Gaza Strip, among the more than 20 reported dead, a man, his wife, and their child were killed in their tent after an overnight Israeli strike on a displaced persons camp in Deir al-Balah, according to civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal.

The Israeli army said it struck "more than 35 terrorist targets" at the end of the day, including a Hamas tunnel, around the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, where large plumes of smoke rose into the sky. Earlier, it announced it had already hit "about 250 terrorist targets" in 48 hours across the Palestinian territory, including weapons depots and sniper posts.

The Oct. 7 attack left 1,219 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. At least 57,882 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government health ministry, considered reliable by the U.N.