Egyptian media reported that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip resumed on March 31 in Cairo, a few days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light for new negotiations.
Many conflicting views
Egypt, Qatar and the United States, Israel's key ally, have mediated previous rounds of talks in the hope of reaching a ceasefire before the start of Ramadan. But more than halfway through the month, negotiations remain deadlocked.
Hamas is seeking a deal to end the fighting and allow the IDF to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported. Hamas also wants Palestinians who fled Gaza City and its southern environs during the initial stages of the fighting to be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip. Israel has rejected this possibility and said it will continue its military efforts to “completely eliminate” Hamas.
News of the new round of talks came as protesters took to the streets of Israel’s largest city on March 30 to demand the release of hostages held in Gaza. About 250 hostages were seized by Hamas forces in an attack on October 7, 2023, that sparked the conflict.
The issue of hostage release is an important demand in the peace negotiations between the two sides, because Palestine also wants this as a condition for Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners it is holding. Hamas has stated that the release of the Israeli hostages depends on the IDF's complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and an end to hostilities.
Earlier, after a meeting in Cairo between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his French and Jordanian counterparts Stéphane Séjourné and Ayman Safadi, Foreign Minister Séjourné said the French government plans to submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, seeking a political solution to the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The draft will include all the criteria for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rafah Center
According to RFI, despite giving the green light for new ceasefire negotiations, Israel continues to bomb the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli infantry attacks in waves on the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza City, and Khan Younis City.
The focus is now on the city of Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinian refugees are trapped in a humanitarian crisis and where the Israeli army is preparing to launch a large-scale ground offensive. Egypt, Jordan and France have all warned of Israel’s planned ground assault on Rafah. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has called the Rafah operation a “catastrophe.” French President Emmanuel Macron has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any forced displacement of civilians from Rafah would constitute a “war crime.”
On March 30, the US Central Command announced that the US had sent 46,000 food rations to people in northern Gaza. At the same time, a second ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip departed from Cyprus, more than two weeks after the last shipment arrived by sea.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said about 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip needed urgent care, while only about 10 hospitals were functioning at a minimum in the area.
MINH CHAU synthesis
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