The Israeli negotiating team is cautious about the chances of an agreement for the release of the hostages

2024-08-17 22:20:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Israeli negotiating team is cautious about the chances of an agreement for

Israel's negotiating team expressed "reserved optimism" about the possibility of reaching an agreement on the release of the hostages, according to a statement released Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

"During the meeting with the prime minister, the team was reserved about the chances of progressing an agreement based on the latest American proposal."

The prime minister's office said it hoped that increased pressure on Hamas by US and international mediators would lead to the withdrawal of the group's opposition to the US proposal and pave the way for the deal.

As negotiations for a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip resume next week, Israel has continued its airstrikes. According to hospital authorities in the Gaza Strip, at least 18 members of a family have lost their lives.

An Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 members of a family, according to local health authorities controlled by Hamas.

The airstrike on Saturday morning hit a house and an adjacent warehouse at the entrance to Zawaida town that housed displaced people, according to Al-Aqsa hospital authorities, while the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that the death toll exceeded the figure of 40 thousand since the beginning of the war.

The Israeli military, which rarely comments on individual attacks, said it was reviewing reports of the attack in question.

Meanwhile, another mass evacuation has been ordered for areas in central Gaza. In a post on the "X" social network, Israel's army spokesman said that Palestinians in the areas in and around the Maghazi refugee camp must leave. He said that Israeli forces will operate in these areas in response to Palestinian rockets.

Also, Lebanon's Ministry of Health says that an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon has killed at least 10 Syrian citizens, among them a woman and her two children. The attack took place in Nabatieh province and is among the deadliest in Lebanon since the militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli army began mutual attacks in October, a day after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that sparked the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The militant group Hezbollah says it will stop its attacks once a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to reach a ceasefire agreement. According to a joint statement, Israel and the militant group Hamas have been presented with a new proposal and that the details will be discussed next week in Cairo.

The new talks will aim not only at securing the release of many Israeli hostages and stopping the fighting that has devastated Gaza. Meanwhile, aid and health workers fear a possible polio outbreak.

The new plan is also aimed at reducing tensions that could trigger a regional war after Iran and the militant group Hezbollah threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for the killings of top leaders.

In Washington, President Biden said Friday that reaching a cease-fire agreement was "much closer" than before the talks began.

"Our teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work over the coming days and senior officials will meet again in Cairo. I am also sending Secretary Blinken to Israel to reaffirm my support for Israel's security, to continue our efforts to complete this agreement, and to underscore that with a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement now on the horizon, no one in the region should to take action to undermine this process," declared Mr. Biden.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others.

More than 100 individuals were released in a ceasefire in November, and about 110 are believed to still be inside Gaza, although Israeli authorities believe about a third are dead.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the parties to the conflict to offer concrete guarantees guaranteeing humanitarian pauses so that a polio vaccine campaign can be carried out.

"Let's be clear: The ultimate 'vaccine' for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. But in any case, a pause in the fighting is necessary. It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign while the fighting continues," said Mr. Guterres.

Polio was discovered in sewage in Gaza's Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis provinces, said Dr. Hamid Jafari, a specialist at the WHO, during a press conference earlier this month, adding that it was possible that the virus had been circulating since September.

A senior Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they understood there was at least one confirmed and two suspected cases among Palestinians in Gaza.

The danger is that the threat of disease outbreaks is not limited to Gaza. The official explained that when the rainy season starts this fall, the polluted sewage could go to Egypt or Jordan.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread primarily through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. /VOA