image source, AFP
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- author, Drafting
- author title, BBC News World
Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy for the Gaza conflict, returned to the Middle East on Monday.
Meanwhile, mediators seeking to take Israel and Hamas’ fragile cease-fire talks to a new, more complicated stage face new obstacles.
Key issues remain unresolved, such as the disarmament of Hamas, the reconstruction and future governance of the Gaza Strip, or the deployment of international security forces to the region.
No date has been given for talks, which are likely to require significant concessions from both Israel and Hamas, raising serious doubts about the likelihood of progress.
A new problem has been added to this. Dozens of Hamas fighters are believed to be hiding in tunnels beneath the southern city of Rafah, inside the so-called “Yellow Line” that demarcates areas under Israeli control.
image source, Israel GPO via EPA
Hamas fighters underground
Last week, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said an amnesty could be granted to fighters who surrender their weapons, and that this could serve as a model for what the U.S. wants to apply to the rest of Gaza.
Witkoff said 200 fighters were trapped, although the number was not confirmed.
Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue during talks in Jerusalem on Monday, according to media reports.
Hamas has previously declared that its fighters would not surrender and demanded safe passage, a request Israel has so far rejected.
An Israeli government spokesperson said Netanyahu and Kushner discussed the future of the first phase, which is currently underway to rescue the remaining hostages, and the second phase of the plan, which includes disarming Hamas, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and ensuring that the Islamic group never again has influence in the Strip.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel that left around 1,200 people dead and another 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 69,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, a figure the United Nations considers reliable.
image source, Getty Images
Uncertainty and sense of closure
The first phase of the ceasefire, which took effect last month, focused on halting the war, releasing all hostages and securing a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Hamas handed over the bodies of 20 living hostages and 24 dead, but four bodies remain in Gaza.
In return, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners from prisons, 1,718 people held without charge or trial in the Gaza Strip, and the bodies of 315 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Hamas have both accused each other of violating the cease-fire agreement, with Israel claiming Hamas intentionally delayed the return of hostage remains, while Hamas claims Israel has killed at least 240 Palestinians and restricted entry of humanitarian aid.
image source, Getty Images
Hamas has so far refused to disarm, saying it would only agree if a Palestinian state was established.
Israel rejects any involvement in the administration of Gaza by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank.
Other countries are reluctant to send troops to a multinational force without a clear objective, fearing that their soldiers could come into conflict with Hamas fighters or other Palestinian forces.
Israeli forces currently occupy 53% of the Gaza Strip and are expected to withdraw further in the next phase of the plan.
Sources interviewed by the news agency said low hopes for any imminent progress in the negotiations had raised the possibility that Gaza would be effectively partitioned between Israeli-controlled and Hamas-controlled areas. Reuters.
It is believed that reconstruction talks may be limited to areas under Israeli control.
Arab countries have already expressed concern that the current secession situation could lead to a permanent partition of Gaza.
President Trump’s plan does not include a path to establishing a Palestinian state, which Israel rejects.
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