Israel and US need months to reach new deal with Hamas
Israel and the US may need months to prepare a new deal with Hamas, while the Hamas movement has demanded humanitarian aid in Gaza as a precondition.
According to RIA Novosti on August 4, the Jerusalem Post reported that a source involved in the negotiations said that Israel and the US may need several months to prepare a new agreement with the Palestinian Hamas movement.
The Jerusalem Post noted that US presidential envoy Steve Whitkoff told the families of the Israeli hostages that Israel and the US are currently working on a framework agreement to end the war and release the prisoners.
According to the newspaper, at this stage it is unclear whether this plan will be presented and whether it includes an ultimatum to Hamas.
“Forming a deal with Hamas at the end of the war will take months. These will be very difficult negotiations,” said a source involved in the talks.
Following Whitkoff’s visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is discussing the future of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper reported, with a broader meeting on the subject scheduled for August 5.
On the Hamas side, the Jerusalem Post said, the movement demanded that hundreds of trucks be allowed into the Gaza Strip as a precondition for continuing negotiations with Israel.
The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and several European countries, in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces, sent 136 pallets of humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip by air on August 3.
“Following the instructions of the political leadership and within the framework of cooperation between Israel and the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, France, Germany, and Belgium, the IDF continues its actions to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip through the management of government operations in the territories. In the past hours, 136 pallets of food were airdropped to the residents of the Gaza Strip by six different countries, including Belgium,” the report said.
