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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues to take losses in the Gaza Strip amid reports suggesting that a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal with the Hamas Movement is near.
Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, said on November 14 that a day earlier it had presented both parties with a “final” draft of the agreement. In addition, The Associated Press reported that Hamas accepted the deal as well, citing two officials involved in the talks.
Nevertheless, CNN later cited an Egyptian official as saying the mediating countries,Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, had not yet received a response from Hamas.
Saudi outlet Al-Hadath reported that Hamas had started dividing the hostages into groups, ahead of their expected release.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said it believed the talks were “at the final stages,” expressing hope that a deal was imminent, but cautioning that “until there is an announcement… we shouldn’t be over-excited about what’s happening right now.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference that most obstacles had been overcome, but did not go into detail.
A Palestinian source close to the talks was cited by Reuters as expecting the deal to be finalized on November 14, if “all goes well.”
The three-phase agreement is based on a framework laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council. It would begin with the gradual release of 33 hostages over a six-week period, including women, children, adults over the age of 50, and severely sick and wounded civilians.
In exchange, Israel would release many hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners. The BBC put the number at 1,000 prisoners, including approximately 190 who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more.
The deal would allow the IDF during the first phase to remain in control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the band of territory along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel would pull out, however, from the Netzarim Corridor, a belt across central Gaza.
A week into the truce, the IDF would begin allowing the return of displaced Gazans from the south to the north, according to the BBC.
In the second phase, Hamas would release the remaining living captives — non-wounded adult males under the age of 50, all of whom Hamas considers “soldiers” — in exchange for more security prisoners and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, according to the draft agreement cited by AP.
In a third phase, the bodies of remaining hostages would be returned in exchange for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan to be carried out in Gaza under international supervision.
The progress in the ceasefire talks came as the IDF took more losses in Gaza. On January 11, the IDF announced that four soldiers were killed and six were wounded during fighting in northern Gaza. And on January 13, it said that five soldiers were killed and ten others were wounded in the same part of the Strip.
The latest deaths brought the IDF toll since the start of ground operations in Gaza and along its border to 407. More than 2,500 others have been wounded so far.
Meanwhile on the other side, the Israeli war has so far claimed the lives of more than 46,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.
All in all, it appears that both Israel and Hamas are finally ready for a ceasefire in Gaza. This came after the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump warned the Palestinian group that it should release the hostages before he assumes office. Trump also reportedly mounted considerable pressure on the Israeli side.
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blinken doesn’t trust trump’s big talk about having netanyahu’s back, why else would the de facto decision maker in biden’s regime would impose an adverse ceasefire on israel, specially now that hamas, hizbollah and iran are at their weakest point and assad and syria are gone.
bidens doing it to look good as he says ,adieu adieu aufriedesein good night .
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no arrivederci for biden, he’s caput.
not here he’s the retiring champion. heil.biden until it’s vale biden.
well now polievre has stated very bluntly that canada’s all the way with the usa things have changed somewhat in yne balance of power dustbins trousseau s gone stale .out with the old castro plan in.with the new and apparently charles is hollering hos head off. allegedly.
lol
die jews, die!
clue .” princess dianas darkest nightmares a shocking … you tube
remember catholics had to be un derground in royal circles they were forbidden to marry the royals or even enter the royal chapel. diana’s mum her blood was catholic .she didn’t convert after leaving earl spencer as slikipedia or dikopedia alleges imo .it was well known the shands were catholics really even camelot. apparently allegedly according to sources .imo .so they say .
the whole jig was qe1 after the catholics terrorists tried to bomb westminster using guy fawkes or was it james ,anyway, qe1 basically screwed them out of the picture and so they set up .qe2 to bring them back in a nutshell. imo .they have the orb of edward that gives them legal right to take jews stuff and even their life’s secrets .imo .
1 got tricked into chopping of stuart mary’s head the catholic stuart’s queen of england scotland france. paybacks a bitch .
now ,palace in a panic? has trumps canada mexico greenland deal thrown a bombshell ?
“massive motorcade rushes towards buckingham palace … :you tube.
or is it all theatre of operations for their eyes only to understand.? remember nothings what it seems.
this is a victory for hamas. undefeated. and israel now the most hated country on the planet.
3 to 5 year reconstruction…who pays for that? it should be israel. there should be a claims conference set up within the framework of a ceasefire dealing with material and personal losses and there should be an international peace conference to sort out the middle east once and for all.
rather, this ceasefire approach is a jewish trap. the way the jews fight is genocide, sweeping, so that they can get rid of the inhabitants of gaza once and for all and populate it with jews and take over the gaza maritime economic zone in their hands. their patrons america and europe they are happy to see all palestinians slotted.