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Representatives of Israel, Qatar and Egypt have arrived in Rome for talks on a Gaza ceasefire. The negotiations have been dragging on for months.
The indirect talks between Israel and the Islamist Hamas, in which Qatar and Egypt are mediating, have been progressing very slowly for months. In addition, the hostages held by Hamas are to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Multi-Stage Peace Plan
The first phase of Biden’s plan envisages a ceasefire of around six weeks. During this period, a certain group of hostages would be released. According to Israeli figures, Hamas has 115 of them in its power , but many of them are probably no longer alive.
In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the next phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released.
According to the draft, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will begin in a final phase.
Unacceptable Demands?
Most recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formulated additional conditions that are likely to be unacceptable to Hamas .
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with 1,200 deaths that the Islamists of Hamas, together with other groups from the Gaza Strip, committed in southern Israel on October 7 of the previous year.
Israel Convinces Italy To Send Ambassador To Syria Again
In recent years, Italy – like other countries in the European Union – had its diplomatic affairs in Syria handled through its embassy in Lebanon. The Italian embassy in Damascus was never formally closed. There has been a civil war in Syria since 2011, with more than 300,000 civilian deaths. Despite being largely isolated by the West, Assad and his power apparatus currently control around two-thirds of the country.
Italy’s foreign minister went on to say that after almost 14 years of war, the EU must adapt its Syria policy to the “evolution of the situation”. With this demand, he is in line with his colleagues from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia. A coalition of three right-wing parties has been governing Italy for almost two years.
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