Gaza cease-fire talks are set to resume Thursday : NPR

TEL AVIV, Israel — A new round of talks to end the Gaza war is set to begin Thursday, with Egypt, Qatar and the United States acting as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

The war has entered its 11th month and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. It started after a surprise Hamas-led attack on Israel last October killed around 1,200 people.

This round of talks is based on a three-phase proposal that President Biden laid out in a national address on May 31 calling for a cease-fire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees and the reconstruction of Gaza. It was a plan that White House officials said Hamas had already accepted and Israel had backed.

“It’s time for this war to end, and for the day after to begin,” Biden said then.

But in the more than 10 weeks since that proposal was announced, several rounds of talks have ended at an impasse. The two sides remain far apart on several issues.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for obstructing negotiations. But The New York Times reported Tuesday that documents show that Netanyahu has been inflexible in recent talks, adding new conditions to his demands. Netanyahu has denied that report.

Last week, the mediating parties called for an “urgent” new round of talks, in an attempt to kickstart stalled negotiations.

“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” a statement from the mediators said. “It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement.”

What will these talks look like?

The talks will take place in Doha, Qatar, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators are expected to be present, including CIA chief William Burns and U.S. envoy Brett McGurk.

Israel has agreed to participate in the talks, but Hamas spokesman Suhail al-Hindi tells NPR the group will not take part in them. He says Hamas already responded to the U.S.-backed plan with a counterproposal on July 2, and that if Israel commits to that counterproposal, Hamas is ready to begin implementing the agreement.

What are the main sticking points between the two sides?

The original proposal that Biden put forward in May involved three phases, the first of which would last for six weeks and include a “full and complete cease-fire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the main population areas of Gaza, and the release of some of the roughly 110 remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.

The two sides would then use that six-week period to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, including a release of all remaining hostages and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. Ideally, the U.S. has suggested, the temporary cease-fire would become permanent.

Protesters hold signs and smoke torches during a demonstration calling for an hostages deal and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government on August 10.

Amir Levy//Getty Images

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Amir Levy//Getty Images

But Israel and Hamas disagree over how long that cease-fire would last. Israel wants the ability to resume the war if Hamas prolongs the cease-fire talks without reaching agreements. Hamas instead wants a guaranteed end to the war.

There are other disagreements yet to be resolved, including whether Israel can screen Palestinian civilians returning to north Gaza to block armed militants, the number of Israeli hostages still alive to be released, the number and identities of Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be released, and who will have control over the Philadelphi Corridor — a strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt that Israel took control of in its May offensive into Rafah.

The mediating parties have downplayed these differences, calling them “only the details of implementation,” and said they are ready with a final proposal bridging the remaining issues, if necessary.

What are the stakes?

For the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza under increasingly degrading conditions, with daily fatalities from Israeli airstrikes, and the remaining Israeli hostages languishing in captivity, the stakes could not be higher.

But added to this round of talks is an additional pressure, after the recent assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut left Israel bracing for a vowed retaliation from Iran and its proxies.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire for more than 10 months of the war, and the Iranian-backed group has long said it would stop firing at Israel when a cease-fire is reached in Gaza.

President Biden and world leaders have urged Iran to back down from its threats of attacking Israel, fearing an all-out regional war and a breakdown of Gaza cease-fire talks. The U.S. hopes a Gaza cease-fire deal could convince Iran to hold its fire.

NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi contributed to this report from Tel Aviv. Michele Kelemen contributed from Washington, D.C.