Mediators in talks for a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel are making a last-ditch effort to revive stalled negotiations as the Middle East braces for an Iranian attack on Israel. <\/p>\n
The high-stakes meeting set to take place on Thursday will have Qatar, Egypt and the United States present a plan to implement a ceasefire-hostage deal proposed by US President Joe Biden in May \u2013 but unresolved differences over last-minute demands presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a looming military escalation threaten to derail the process. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about the status of the talks so far. <\/p>\n
In May, Biden laid out a three-phase proposal the administration said was submitted by Israel that would pair a release of hostages from Gaza with a \u201cfull and complete ceasefire\u201d and a release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. <\/p>\n
The first phase would last six weeks and include the \u201cwithdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza\u201d and the \u201crelease of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners\u201d and the implementation of a temporary truce. <\/p>\n
Phase 2 would allow for the \u201cexchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers\u201d and a permanent end to the fighting. <\/p>\n
In Phase 3, a \u201cmajor reconstruction plan for Gaza would commence and any final remains of hostages who\u2019ve been killed will be returned to their families,\u201d the US president said. <\/p>\n
It is unclear how many of the original hostages set for release are still alive. <\/p>\n
Despite an initial positive reaction from Hamas and Israel, both sides failed to agree on the implementation of the finer details of the proposal including the sequencing of the hostage-prisoner exchange, the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and how far back Israeli forces should withdraw in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu has repeatedly stymied the deal as far-right members of his ruling coalition threaten to collapse the government despite pressure from the US and families of hostages. <\/p>\n
Ahead of a meeting in Rome last month, the Israeli prime minister presented 11th-hour demands, asking for a mechanism to bar armed men from entering northern Gaza from the south, and the continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a strip of territory on the Gaza-Egypt border. <\/p>\n
A senior US administration official, speaking to reporters this week, said the \u201cbulk of the work\u201d has been done for the deal, but it\u2019s unlikely that it will be signed at Thursday\u2019s meeting as both sides still have positions on \u201cfour or five issues.\u201d <\/p>\n
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. <\/p>\n
US officials had said that talks had reached an advanced stage until Hamas\u2019 political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran in late July in an explosion Iran blamed on Israel. Israel hasn\u2019t confirmed or denied responsibility, but Iran has vowed vengeance. <\/p>\n
There were concerns that the assassination would throw a wrench in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The militant group replaced Haniyeh with Yahya Sinwar, the hardline Hamas leader in Gaza who is one of Israel\u2019s most wanted men. While Haniyeh, a relative moderate, lived in Qatar and was susceptible to pressure from his host country, Sinwar is believed to be deep underground in a tunnel in Gaza and is hard to reach. <\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s ceasefire talks are the result of a major diplomatic effort by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US to push for a last-ditch effort to end the war and free the hostages as Iran prepares to attack Israel. <\/p>\n
The urgency of the talks was highlighted by the three mediators, who issued a rare joint statement last week calling on the warring parties to return to negotiations and offered what they called a \u201cfinal bridge proposal\u201d to overcome the remaining sticking points. The details of that proposal have not been made public. <\/p>\n
Israel has agreed to send a delegation to the talks, and Hamas has indicated that it is still interested in a deal, requesting a plan to implement the offer proposed by Biden in July, instead of engaging in additional negotiations. <\/p>\n
In parallel, US and Middle East diplomats have been mobilizing to dissuade Iran from launching an attack on Israel that could lead to a wider regional war. Both Iran and the US have said that that lines of communication between them are open through intermediaries. <\/p>\n
There have been some indications that Iran may abandon plans to attack Israel if a ceasefire deal is reached. But the country\u2019s mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that Tehran\u2019s retaliation is \u201ctotally unrelated to the Gaza ceasefire.\u201d <\/p>\n
The lack of clarity on whether the Israeli prime minister will adhere to Biden\u2019s May proposal, the source added, suggests time is running out to strike a deal before an Iranian attack. Qatar and Egypt, the source said, may not have enough influence to push Hamas to compromise. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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