Jerusalem: Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a phased ceasefire agreement, officials said Monday.
But a deal hasn’t been reached yet, and there are a number of obstacles that could still scupper the talks in Qatar.
Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
There has been intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
But the talks have repeatedly stalled over several key issues. They include details of the exchange, whether the ceasefire would be permanent and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The war has ground on as each side has accused the other of backtracking.
US and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal hasn’t been reached yet, officials said Monday.
Three officials acknowledged that progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilised the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the talks.
One of the three officials and a Hamas official said that there were still a number of hurdles to clear. On several occasions over the past year, US officials have said that they were on the verge of reaching a deal, only to have the talks stall.
The state news agency of the United Arab Emirates says a high-level delegation from the oil-rich nation is in Beirut to undertake all necessary arrangements to reopen the UAE Embassy in Lebanon.
Monday’s move came days after Lebanon’s army commander, Gen Joseph Aoun, was elected president ending a 26-month vacuum in the country’s top job.
The UAE withdrew its diplomats from Lebanon in October 2021 in protest to comments by a Lebanese Cabinet minister about the war in Yemen.
Aoun spoke by telephone with the president of the UAE over the weekend who told him the embassy will resume work in Beirut, according to Aoun’s office. His election is likely to improve Lebanon’s cold relations with oil-rich gulf Arab nations. Ties have been tense for years because of Iran’s influence in the small Mediterranean nation.
