Truce progress slow as Israeli-Hamas violence persists
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians near the line dividing Israeli-controlled areas in Gaza; This underscored the struggle to expand the fragile ceasefire agreement approved more than six weeks ago to global acclaim.
Monday’s events included an Israeli drone firing a missile at a group of people east of Khan Younis, killing two people and wounding another, and one person being killed by a tank shell on the east side of Gaza City, Palestinian medics said.
The Israeli army said it opened fire after detecting people it called “terrorists” who crossed the yellow line and approached its soldiers and posed a direct threat to them.
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said in a statement later Monday that it had found the body of a hostage in an area controlled by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. It was not specified when the handover would take place.
The hostage’s body is one of three still found in Gaza.
Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel signed a ceasefire on October 9 that halted two years of devastating war, but the deal left the toughest disputes for further talks, freezing the conflict without resolution.
Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and prisoners of war held by Israel.
The agreement also stipulates the return of the remains of 28 hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 militants. Since the agreement, both sides have accused each other of fatally violating existing commitments in the deal and backtracking on next steps called for by US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
At least 342 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began on October 10, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday. Israel announced that three of its soldiers were killed as a result of fire opened by the militants in the same period.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council gave official support to Trump’s plan, which calls for the establishment of an interim technocratic Palestinian government in Gaza, overseen by an international “peace board” and supported by an international security force.
Trump’s plan also calls for reforming the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who helped the United States develop the plan and who Trump said might join the peace board, met with Palestinian Authority deputy leader Hussein al-Sheikh in the West Bank on Sunday.
In a social media post, Sheikh said that they discussed the developments after the Security Council decision and the need for Palestinian self-determination.
In Cairo, a Hamas delegation led by its exiled leader Khalil al-Hayya held talks with Egyptian officials about exploring the next phase of the ceasefire, according to Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Kasim.
Qasim acknowledged that the path to the second phase of the ceasefire was complicated and said the Islamist group had told Egypt, which is mediating the conflict, that Israeli violations were undermining the agreement.
Achieving agreement on the structure and powers of the international security force has been particularly challenging.
Israel said the multinational force must disarm Hamas; This is a step that the group has so far resisted without a Palestinian state; Trump’s plan generally envisages this as the final stage, but Israel ignores it. Qasim said this force should have a role in keeping the Israeli army away from Palestinian civilians.
“There is complete uncertainty; the Americans have not put forward a detailed plan. It is not clear what kind of forces, their missions, their roles and where they will be deployed,” said a Palestinian official close to the Cairo talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Any deployment of forces without a political path, without agreement with all Palestinian groups and forces in Gaza, will further complicate matters.”
