Washington works with Qatar, Turkey and Egypt to reach Gaza exchange deal

The White House said the United States was working with Qatar, Turkey and Egypt to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, and added that Hamas was the main obstacle to the conclusion of an agreement in Gaza.

Separately, Axios cited an informed source as saying that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan did not accompany President Joe Biden to Angola and remained in Washington to continue working on an exchange deal in the Gaza Strip.

For his part, US President-elect Donald Trump declared that if detainees in the Gaza Strip are not released before his inauguration on January 20, there will be “hell” in the Middle East.

Trump said in a social media post: “Those responsible will receive a harder blow than anyone has received in the long and storied history of the United States of America… Release the prisoners now.” »

Trump added: “Everyone says hostages are brutal, inhumane and against the will of the world, but that’s all talk without action. »

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced – yesterday evening, Monday – that 33 Israeli prisoners in its custody have been killed since October 2023, and confirmed that most of them were killed by Israeli bombings. Israeli army on various areas of the Gaza Strip.

Progress without optimism

In Tel Aviv, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation cited a source close to negotiations with Hamas as saying that Israel is not in an optimistic phase, but has made progress on the prisoner exchange issue.

The source said Hamas insists on stopping the war, noting that some Israeli government ministers oppose the political aspects of the negotiations.

For its part, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that army general staff officials had informed political leaders that conditions were ripe for reaching an agreement with Hamas after the end of the Lebanon war and the events in Syria, in addition to the change in policy. the American administration.

In turn, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said that the return of detainees was the most important task for Israel and that he would do everything to implement it.

Earlier, the Israel Broadcasting Authority reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting the day before last evening with ministers and the negotiating team tasked with concluding a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas to discuss the opportunities to restart negotiations. The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said there was progress in the negotiations, but it did not constitute a breakthrough and the issue of ending the war remained the main obstacle.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog stressed before Sunday that the time had come to conclude a prisoner exchange agreement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

“I reiterate my call to Israeli leaders, mediators and the world that this is the right time to reach a deal on the hostages,” Herzog said.

Maariv reported: “The Israeli president confirms that negotiations are underway behind the scenes to reach an exchange agreement and believes that its conclusion is possible.”

The Palestinian resistance captured more than 200 Israeli settlers and soldiers during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, with the aim of exchanging them for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons.

The occupation killed many of its prisoners during raids on the Gaza Strip, while dozens were released in a partial deal mediated by Qatar a year ago.

According to reports, the Palestinian resistance still holds 100 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 149,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in a context of destruction. massive famine which killed dozens of people. children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.