Trouble over propaganda

Ceasefire stalls: Hamas and Israel draw closer

In future, Hamas is to refrain from its propaganda shows during releases.(Bild: APA/AFP/Omar AL-QATTAA)

Israel and Hamas appear to have found a solution to the dispute over the continuation of the Gaza Agreement. The parties have agreed on a new mechanism, which was not described in detail. What a second phase of the ceasefire could look like is still not fixed.

The militant Palestinian organization Hamas has announced a new procedure for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and the mortal remains of Israeli hostages. This should guarantee Israel's consent, according to a statement issued by the radical Islamic terrorist group on Wednesday.

Hamas is prepared to implement the agreement until all phases have been completed. Hamas and the Israeli media had previously reported that a solution had been found to the dispute over the continuation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The planned release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, which Israel had suspended a few days ago, is to take place at the same time as the handover of further bodies of Israeli hostages. The four dead are due to leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. There was initially no official confirmation from Israel.

Hamas propaganda as a point of contention
On Sunday night, Israel announced that the release of Palestinian prisoners, as provided for in the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, would be suspended for the time being. Before it can continue, the Palestinian terrorist organization must give assurances that it will refrain from the humiliating ceremonies for the release of Israeli hostages in future. This affects 602 Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to have been released on Saturday in exchange for six Israeli hostages.

The continuation of talks on the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war had stalled over the dispute. According to Hamas, it only wanted to continue negotiations once the prisoners had been released. The four bodies that are now to be handed over were originally due to be handed over to Israel on Thursday as part of the first phase of the agreement.

USA: Talks on phase two of ceasefire resume
According to US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Israeli representatives are now expected to attend talks on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement for the Gaza Strip in the near future. "We are making a lot of progress," Witkoff said on Tuesday at an event organized by the American Jewish Committee in Washington. "Israel is sending a team as we speak."

The talks would take place "either in Doha or Cairo," Witkoff said. Egypt and Qatar were again involved in the negotiations as mediators. In January, Egypt, Qatar and the USA brokered an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after months of negotiations in an extraordinary case of cooperation between the government of then US President Joe Biden and the team of his successor Donald Trump.

As part of the agreement, which has been in force since January 19, Hamas has so far handed over a total of 25 living hostages - including the Austro-Israeli Tal Shoham - and four dead hostages to Israel, in return for which more than 1,100 Palestinians have been released from Israeli custody. The agreement stipulates that the first phase of the deal will end on Saturday. Negotiations on the further course of the ceasefire were actually due to begin at the beginning of February.