Gaza mediators race to wrap up ceasefire pact
Published: 05:12 PM,Dec 18,2024 | EDITED : 09:12 PM,Dec 18,2024
Palestinian houses stand badly damaged during the ongoing Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya. — Reuters
CAIRO: The United States, joined by Arab mediators, sought on Wednesday to conclude an agreement between Israel and Palestinians to halt the 14-month-old war in the Gaza Strip where medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people overnight. A Palestinian official close to the negotiations said on Wednesday that mediators had narrowed gaps on most of the agreement's clauses. He said Israel had introduced conditions which Hamas rejected but would not elaborate.
Sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said an agreement could be signed in coming days on a ceasefire and a release of captives held in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out acts of 'ethnic cleansing' to depopulate the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone. On Wednesday, Muhammad Saleh, director of Al Awda Hospital in Jabalia, said Israeli shelling in the vicinity damaged the facility, wounding seven medics and one patient inside the hospital. — Reuters
Sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said an agreement could be signed in coming days on a ceasefire and a release of captives held in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out acts of 'ethnic cleansing' to depopulate the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone. On Wednesday, Muhammad Saleh, director of Al Awda Hospital in Jabalia, said Israeli shelling in the vicinity damaged the facility, wounding seven medics and one patient inside the hospital. — Reuters