The ceasefire plan and hostage releases are one of the important tasks for both Israel and Hamas. And the international mediators are making progress on it. They came to light with the new ”bridging proposal”. This plan aims to address the remaining issues and allow the ceasefire plan to be implemented quickly. In Doha, the two-day discussion was carried out. After this conversation mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar described their plans and addressed the different issues. All of these nations are working hard to resolve the problems as soon as possible. 

Next week they will meet again. The purpose of this meeting is to finalize the details such as the release of hostages and arrangements for humanitarian aid. Alao the deal will be finalized with the gathering of senior officials from these countries. At the same time, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken is travelling to Israel. This tour aims to push Israel for a ceasefire. It’s encouraging that these recent talks have been described as the most productive in months, showing real progress in the negotiations.

The recent talks between officials are looking promising. One of the officials said they were getting ready for a possible deal but didn’t give details. For the past two days, everyone has been hoping that the situation will improve and things will move towards a positive conclusion. 

President Biden is optimistic too, saying progress is being made but it’s not final yet. He’s asked his team in Doha to push forward with a new plan. Biden also spoke with leaders from Qatar and Egypt, who support the US proposal.

Biden also stressed that the team will continue their work in Doha. Also, he said that the security of Israel is the responsibility of the United States military. He warned that no one should launch any attack that messes up things and fails the deals.  Gerald Feierstein from the Middle East Institute thinks that whether a deal happens will depend on what both sides believe they’ll gain.

Israel and Hamas will agree on a ceasefire depending on certain things. It’s that which side thinks they’ll benefit more from stopping the fighting rather than continuing it. At this time, both Hamas and Israel believe that they gain more by fighting.

According to Hamas, they are unsure about Friday’s proposal. They said that this proposal may be quite different from the previous one. However, no leader of the Hamas took part in recent talks but they were kept updated. 

After the conversation of the officials in Doha, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, Israel values the mediator’s efforts to convince Hamas about the release of hostages. The statement also expressed hope that pressure from the mediators. And the United States will push Hamas to accept the May 27 principles so that the agreement can move forward.

The Defense Department of the United States pointed out that the central focus of the discussion was the increasing instability of the region. Also many put attention on the threats on Iran and its other allies. These include Hezbollah and other terrorist groups. Also, Austin assured that the United States keeps an eye on Iran in order to protect Israel and US assets from this country. They also talked about the progress of the cease-fire negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s order for people in southern and central Gaza to evacuate areas once considered safe zones indicates a troubling development. It seems that Hamas is using these areas for attacks against Israel, which complicates the situation even further.

The IDF (Israel Defense Force) needs to change the Humanitarian area. This is because it became a dangerous land due to terrorist attacks. They let people know to leave through flyers, emails, texts, phone calls, and Arabic broadcasts.

The root cause of the violence is the Hamas attack. It was launched on October 7, when Hamas killed about 1200 people and took 250 hostages. This incident caused the current conflict that never ended till now. According to Israel,  Hamas is still holding 116 hostages, with 42 thought to be dead.

In response, Israel has carried out air and ground attacks on Gaza, and both sides agree that more than 39,400 people have died. Israel says most of these deaths are combatants, while Hamas’ Health Ministry claims 40,000 have died, mostly women and children. The United Nations says almost 75% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are displaced, and nearly everyone is at risk of famine.