Israel proposes new truce with permanent ceasefire in Gaza and Blinken calls for diplomatic solution for Lebanon: 385th day of war
Israel presented mediation teams from Egypt, Qatar and the United States with a new proposal for a truce in the Gaza Strip before the start of a new round of negotiations in Doha this Sunday, according to sources close to the talks.
According to the sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, the plan, which still needs to be discussed and presented to the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, includes three phases and a possible permanent halt to Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
A first phase envisages a temporary ceasefire ea withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Rafah crossingwhich links Gaza to Egypt, as well as the release of all living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of a group of Palestinian prisoners in the Jewish state’s prisons.
A second consists of the withdrawal of troops from the Netzarim axisthe corridor that divides the Gaza Strip from north to south, and the exchange of the “majority” of the bodies of the dead hostages with the bodies of Hamas fighters, according to the sources.
Already final phase, Israel would commit to withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphia Corridor (the border between Gaza and Egypt) and the north of the Stripon the condition that an Arab coalition and the Palestinian Authority (PA, in power in the West Bank) supervise this hard-hit area of the Palestinian enclave. At this stage, Israel would also hand over the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar, recently murdered in the south of the Strip.
Sources also reported that the Egypt and Qatar are making “intense efforts” to stop the war in Gaza, at the same time as they try to “make changes to the text in favor of Hamas” so that the Palestinian group accepts the proposal, although there are doubts about Israel’s true desire to stop the war in Gaza.
Hamas declared itself ready to cease hostilities in Gaza if Israel commits to a ceasefire, after discussions in Cairo that included a delegation from the Palestinian group, where “ideas and proposals” were presented for the resumption of peace negotiations.
Blinken considers a diplomatic solution for Lebanon urgent
The head of North American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, argued in London that there is a “real urgency” in achieving a “diplomatic solution” to the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and the Shiite group Hezbollah.
“We feel there is a real urgency to reach a diplomatic solution and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 so that there can be real security along the Israel-Lebanon border,” Blinken said after a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in London.
In the British capital, where he met with some representatives from the Middle East area, Blinken explained that it is essential to “obtain the necessary agreements for the full implementation” of this resolution and again called for the protection of civilians, without calling for a ceasefire.
“We want to ensure that in places like Beirut there is a real effort to ensure people are safe and that civilians are not caught in this crossfire”, added the head of diplomacy of the United States of America.
One of the main White House envoys to the Middle EastAmos Hochstein, suggested support for economic stimulus to the Lebanese Government as a way of weakening the Shiite group Hezbollahwhich is at war with Israel.
The US President’s envoy, Joe Biden, considers that, in the context of the escalation of violence in Lebanon, oregress to the United Nations resolution regulating activity on the Israeli-Lebanese border “is insufficient”proposing the strengthening of the Beirut executive.
“What we have to do is not leave Lebanon until we get a ceasefire because otherwise Iran, Hezbollah or any other terrorist group will say ‘we will take care of the reconstruction’,” Hochstein said during an economic forum organized by the magazine Semafor in Washington.
Other news that marked the day:
⇒ More than 500 thousand people in Lebanon crossed the border into Syria since Israel intensified its attacks against the Shiite group Hezbollah, the Lebanese government crisis management committee revealed today. Between September 23rd and October 25th, the passage of 348,237 Syrian citizens and 156,505 Lebanese citizens to Syrian territoryas indicated by the committee, in a statement.
⇒ At least 12 people were killed in Israeli drone strikes against a group awaiting humanitarian aid in the north of the Gaza Strip, announced the Gaza Civil Defense. “Civil Defense recovered 12 dead and several injured after Israeli drone attacks on a vehicle and a group of citizens waiting for help north of the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza city,” he told the agency AFP the organization’s spokesman, Mahmoud Bassal.
⇒ O Lebanese movement Hezbollah claimed to have fired guided missiles at Israeli soldiers near two border villages in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops have been carrying out ground incursions for nearly a month. According to a hospital in an Arab city in northern Israel, two people died after a ‘rocket’ exploded.
⇒ Two bombings hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, following an evacuation warning for the area of the Israeli Army, which has been intensely attacking strongholds of the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon for more than a month. “Enemy planes carried out two new attacks on Haret Hreik,” the Lebanese national agency reported.
⇒ The head of European Union diplomacy condemned the death of 128 journalists in Israel’s war against Hamas and in the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, three of whom died todayasking for protection for the press. “Journalists are paying a high price when covering the conflict in the Middle East.”, said the European Union (EU) high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
