GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, August 8, 2024 Agence France Presse: Israel has agreed to resume ceasefire talks in Gaza on August 15 at the request of US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, as regional tensions soar over the war.
Gaza's Hamas-controlled civil defense agency said Israeli shelling killed more than 18 people in attacks on two schools on Thursday, as Iran accused Israel of trying to spread war across the Middle East.
After a weeklong pause in November, U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators sought to secure a second truce in the 10-month-old war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the leaders of the three countries called on the warring parties to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to fill all remaining gaps and begin implementing the agreement without further delay.”
A framework agreement was “now on the table, with only the implementation details” remaining to be finalised, and mediators were “ready to present a final linkage proposal” to resolve the remaining issues, they said.
Netanyahu's office said later Thursday that Israel would send a negotiating team on August 15 “to the agreed location to finalise the details of implementing an agreement.”
A possible cessation of hostilities, including the release of hostages held in Gaza and increased aid deliveries, centers on a gradual agreement that begins with an initial truce.
Recent discussions have focused on a framework outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden in late May, which he said was proposed by Israel.
“It’s not like the deal will be ready for signature on Thursday. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” a senior Biden administration official said of the talks, which follow calls between Biden and Egyptian and Qatari leaders this week.
Israel has been “very receptive” to the idea of talks, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity, rejecting suggestions that Netanyahu was stalling on a deal.
The announcement of the talks came after Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack, as its new leader, fueling fears that the difficult negotiations have become even more arduous.
On the ground in Gaza, the Hamas-controlled civil defense agency said Israeli strikes hit Al-Zahra and Abdel Fattah Hamoud schools in Gaza City, killing more than 18 people.
A senior agency official, Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, said 60 people were injured and more than 40 were still missing.
“This is a clear attack on schools and safe civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The Israeli military claimed that the schools housed Hamas command centers.
At least 13 people were killed elsewhere in Gaza, rescue workers and doctors said, as the Israeli army issued its latest evacuation order for parts of the main southern city of Khan Yunis.
Diplomats have stepped up efforts to ease tensions in the region, which have skyrocketed after the killing of two top militant leaders in attacks blamed on Israel and which militants and their Iranian backers have vowed to avenge.
Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told AFP that Israel had committed “a strategic mistake” by killing Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, hours after the assassination of Hezbollah's military chief in Beirut.
Although Israel has not admitted killing Haniyeh, Iran and its allies have vowed to retaliate.
Israel seeks to “extend tension, war and conflict to other countries,” but has neither “the capacity nor the strength” to fight Iran, Bagheri said.
Netanyahu, speaking at a military base on Wednesday, said Israel was “prepared both defensively and offensively” and “determined” to defend itself.
Officials in the Middle East and beyond have called for calm, with Britain's international development minister, Anneliese Dodds, telling AFP during a visit to Jordan: “We need to see a de-escalation.”
The United States, which has sent additional warships and jets to the region, has urged both Iran and Israel to avoid escalation.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian and later with Israel's Netanyahu, urging both to “avoid a cycle of reprisals,” according to the French presidency.
The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has already involved Tehran-affiliated militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Hezbollah, Hamas's Lebanese ally, which has exchanged almost daily cross-border attacks with Israeli troops during the Gaza war, has vowed retaliation for the killing of military chief Fuad Shukr.
The unprecedented Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza has killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
Palestinian militants have taken 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 39 who have died, according to the Israeli military.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,699 people, according to the Hamas-controlled territory's health ministry, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
Netanyahu, who has avoided apologizing for security lapses during Israel's worst attack ever, said in an interview published Thursday that he was “deeply sorry that something like this happened.”
“You always look back and ask, ‘Could we have done something to prevent this?’” Netanyahu told Time magazine.
