Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have made progress, with narrowing gaps on key issues. However, disagreements remain regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners and the deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
Palestinian children inspect the remains of a car in the aftermath of an Israel i strike, amid the Israel - Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Dec 23, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israel i and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday (Dec 23), though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas in Gaza but that he did not know how long it would take to see the results. An dead man is taken into the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after a car was hit by an Israeli airstrike killing four people in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday Dec 23, 2024. (Photo: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana). During a speech in Israel's Knesset, Netanyahu said Israel had made'great achievements' militarily on several fronts and that military pressure on Hamas had led its leaders to soften their previous demands. A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza. His remarks corresponded with comments by the Israeli diaspora minister, Amichai Chikli, who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months. 'This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground,' Chikli told Israel's Kan radi
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