TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister’s office has announced that the Israeli negotiating team has received a directive after a war council meeting to resume communications about a potential ceasefire deal, Arab media reported. However, Netanyahu’s office did not provide more details over the matter.
Earlier, dialogs reached a stalemate following the latest round of talks. On Tuesday, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari has reiterated that truce and captive-prisoner swap dialogue between Hamas and Israel and Israel, in which Doha is a mediator, remain “close to a stalemate”.
International pressure for a truce has mounted on Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu as three European nations said that they would recognize a Palestinian state. Palestinian groups including Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) have welcomed the decisions of three western countries to recognize the state of Palestine.
Hamas lauded a decision by Spain, Ireland, and Norway to recognize a Palestinian state as an “important step” and asked other countries to follow suit.
In a statement, Hamas said that they consider this an important step towards affirming their right to their land. The statement further said that Hamas urged the countries across the world to recognize their legitimate national rights.
Similarly, Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the Executive Committee of the PLO, has also expressed gratitude after the announcements by the three western nations that they are going to recognize Palestinian statehood.
In a statement via social media, he said, “Historical moments in which the free world triumphs for justice and truth after long decades of Palestinian national struggle, suffering, occupation, pain, racism, murder, abuse, oppression, and destruction to which the people of Palestine were subjected.”
