Breakthrough report of Peace talks to resume in Gaza?

Israel accepted the latest cease-fire proposal, said Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had accepted a “bridging proposal” aimed at closing the gap between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire deal for Gaza. Hamas officials did not immediately comment, but they have called the proposal slanted toward Israel. A spokesman for P.M. Netanyahu confirmed that the prime minister had told Blinken that Israel had agreed to the proposal, which U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators presented last week. Blinken discussed it during a three-hour meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Israel's demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza which Hamas has long rejected threatens to unravel the ceasefire talks aimed at ending the 10 month old war,freeing scores of hostages on both sides and preventing an even wider conflict. Israel is wanting to mauntain a military presence in a narrow buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border it calls the "Philadelphi Corridor" as well as the areas that cuts off the Northern Gaza from the south, known as the "Netzarim Corridor".

What’s next: Negotiations are expected to resume this week in Egypt. Blinken said the talks represented “probably the best, maybe the last” chance to bring the Israeli hostages home and “put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.” Israel said it had carried out strikes across central and southern Gaza. Palestinian officials said the strikes had killed 25 people since Sunday 18 August 2024. .