Qatar, Egypt and the United States have called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s continued bombardment of the territory has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and raised fears of further regional escalation.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the three countries urged Israel and Hamas “to resume urgent discussion” on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”.
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“It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners,” they said.
“We have worked for months to reach framework agreement and it is now on the table, with only details of implementation missing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quickly responded to the call, saying in a statement that Israel would send a delegation to attend talks next week “in order to finalise the details and implement the framework agreement”.
Hamas, the Palestinian political faction that governs Gaza, has yet to respond.
The joint statement comes amid months of failed attempts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel’s military assault has killed at least 39,699 Palestinians and injured 91,722 others since early October.
The recent killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran – widely believed to have been carried out by Israel – also spurred questions about the prospect of continued ceasefire negotiations.
The assassination of Haniyeh – who had been a key figure in the talks – was seen by many as an effort by Netanyahu’s government to scuttle efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera correspondent Hamdah Salhut said the circ*mstances of Haniyeh’s death will add to the complexity of any future negotiations.
“There are a lot of moving parts here,” she said, pointing to the risk of a “retaliatory attack” from Iran or one of its proxies.
“Additionally, we have to remember that the Israelis are now going to be negotiating with Yahya Sinwar, who is the new political leader of Hamas,” Salhut added, referring to Haniyeh’s replacement.
“He’s considered a hardliner. Benjamin Netanyahu is considered a hardliner. He’s gone into these negotiations previously with several non-negotiables and has added to that list.”
Still, in Thursday’s statement, Qatar, Egypt and the US said it is “time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families”.
“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” the countries said.
The statement was undersigned by US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said the statement shows the mediating nations are running out of patience.
“The US is being pushed to exert greater pressure due to the threat of a wider regional war,” Bishara explained.
“I think the idea here is that they’re going to go back to the table, come August 15, and both Hamas and Israel would be looking at hammering the details,” he said.
Bishara said many details are still unclear, including which Palestinian prisoners and captives held in Gaza would be released in the first phase of the deal – and how many.
But said the mediating nations believe they “have a good framework agreement now for a three-stage ceasefire agreement”.
“I think this is more or less a call for action, a call for urgency – to act quicker than before.”
Ariel Gold, executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a US-based non-violence group, said Thursday’s statement is not yet cause for celebration.
“We have in many ways been here before,” Gold told Al Jazeera, noting that President Biden’s administration has “many times [said] that we are at the final stretch” of negotiations.
Gold said Biden, who has provided staunch military and diplomatic support to Israel amid the war, should make it clear to Netanyahu that there will be “a real, definitive consequence for refusing this ceasefire deal”.
For months, Palestinian rights advocates in the US have urged Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel as the war drags on.
Rami Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut, said the timing of the statement is likely a reflection of the pressures Biden is facing.
“Why the 15th?” Khouri asked, referencing the date in the joint statement to restart negotiations. “I think it’s because the two most desperate people in the world now for a ceasefire, other than the Palestinians, are Kamala Harris and Genocide Joe Biden, as he is well known in the US.”
Khouri pointed out that August 15 comes mere days before the Democrats are set to hold their national convention in Chicago, Illinois. The ongoing fighting in Gaza could spark discord and protest at the convention, which is designed as a platform for Harris’s presidential campaign.
“They’re desperate to have this ceasefire happen,” Khouri said, adding that “the timing is unbelievably significant”.
