Politics Israel keeps ceasefire talks on the back burner for the time being
Relatives of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip accuse Israel's government of not being determined enough in the next round of ceasefire talks with Hamas. They criticize the limited mandate of the Israeli delegation sent to Qatar for the negotiations and warn of a resumption of the Gaza war.
09.02.2025, 07:49
SDA
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the negotiators to only negotiate "technical details" for the time being, Israeli media reported, citing senior government officials. According to the report, the delegation is also less high-profile than in previous rounds: It would not include the foreign and domestic intelligence chiefs usually sent to Doha, but this time only senior officials and the Israeli hostage coordinator, retired General Gal Hirsch.
The indirect talks in Doha, in which Qatar, Egypt and the USA are mediating, are to focus on the second phase of the ceasefire, which should begin at the end of the month. This should lead to a final end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages who are still alive. Critics accuse Netanyahu of delaying such steps out of consideration for the political right in Israel. Hardliners are calling for Hamas' demands not to be met and for the Palestinian terrorist organization to be completely destroyed instead.
Netanyahu: "We will eliminate Hamas"
"We will do everything we can to bring our hostages home," Netanyahu promised in a video message. "We will eliminate Hamas and we will bring our hostages home." The cabinet will meet on Sunday to discuss the second phase of the fragile ceasefire that has been in place since January 19. A disappearance of Hamas from Gaza, where it seized power in 2007, is hardly conceivable under the current conditions of the ceasefire agreement.
A member of the Hamas politburo named Bassem Naim told the Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera that the Islamist organization was prepared to remove all obstacles to the implementation of the agreement. However, Israel was using "dirty tricks" and thus undermining the agreement. The fact that aid deliveries are being delayed and Palestinians continue to be killed in the Gaza Strip is jeopardizing the painstakingly negotiated deal.
Further partial withdrawal of the military
With the release of three Israeli Hamas hostages and 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails on Saturday, a further partial agreement was fulfilled. The next step was for the Israeli military to withdraw from the so-called Nezarim Corridor, which divides the sealed-off Gaza Strip into a northern and a southern half, on Sunday night. In a third phase of the ceasefire, the bodies of killed hostages are to be returned and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is to begin.
Israel had already withdrawn from part of the strategically important Nezarim Corridor after the ceasefire began. Now it is to vacate it completely - apart from a one-kilometer-wide area directly on the border with Israel. This means that Palestinians who were displaced from the cities in the north to the south as a result of the war could return to their largely destroyed homes in even greater numbers than before. There was no confirmation during the night that the military had withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the release of the three hostages on Saturday once again highlighted the dramatic fate of the abductees, who have been held captive by Hamas for more than a year and do not know if or when they will see their families again. Ohad Ben Ami (56), Or Levy (34) and Eli Sharabi (52) appeared badly marked after 16 months of being held hostage: weakened, pale and emaciated.
Hardly recognized their father
According to Israeli media, Ben Ami's daughter said that she hardly recognized her father. She just wanted to hug him, said Ella Ben Ami. "This is what a crime against humanity looks like," declared Israeli President Isaac Herzog in view of the hostages' condition. Palestinian terrorists had abducted her and around 250 others from Israel to the Gaza Strip during the massacre on October 7, 2023.
Since the start of the ceasefire, Hamas has now released 16 of 33 Israeli hostages due to be released during the first phase of the three-stage agreement. A total of 76 hostages are now still being held in the Gaza Strip, 35 of whom are dead according to Israeli reports. The next hostages are due to be released next weekend.
The forum of hostage relatives accused Netanyahu's government of wasting valuable time: "How is it that the cabinet did not meet immediately after the shocking pictures of Eli, Ohad and Or? What more evidence is needed for decision-makers to realize the critical urgency of releasing the 76 hostages?" it said in a statement.
Air strikes in Lebanon and Syria
Meanwhile, the Israeli air force bombed military targets in Lebanon and Syria. Six people were killed and two injured in a drone attack on a Hezbollah militia base in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported. The Israeli military confirmed an airstrike on Hezbollah fighters in a weapons factory. Their activities had violated the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of November.
Near the Syrian capital Damascus, the air force reportedly bombed a Hamas weapons depot. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the situation in Syria with a network of activists, confirmed the attack on the depot in Deir Ali, 25 kilometers south of Damascus. There were no casualties.
Israel has significantly increased its attacks in Syria on suspected weapons depots and supply routes of Hamas and its allied Hezbollah militia since December 8. On that day, rebels overthrew Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. He subsequently fled to Moscow. Hezbollah and Hamas were allied with the Assad leadership.
