By Hamdi Yilmaz
ISTANBUL (AA) - The atmosphere of optimism regarding the imminent reaching of an agreement on a hostage exchange deal between Hamas and Israel does not reflect the truth, a source in the Palestinian group said Sunday.
The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they dealt with the mediators positively to end “the suffering of the Palestinian people” and “stop the war of extermination.”
He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "evades responding to the most important demands of the resistance to stop the aggression which are the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army, and the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip."
The source added that “killing the people of the northern Gaza Strip through starvation is a crime of genocide that threatens the entire process of negotiations."
Israel’s War Cabinet decided late Saturday to send a delegation to Qatar to have talks on a hostage exchange agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas, according to Israeli media.
On Friday, an Israeli delegation participated in negotiation talks in the French capital Paris to reach a hostage exchange deal with Hamas.
No deal was reached during the talks. However, Israeli media reported Saturday that the Israeli negotiating delegation returned from Paris and spoke of “good negotiations and a positive atmosphere.”
A cease-fire between Hamas and Israel had previously been reached for a week from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, during which hostilities were halted, prisoners were swapped, and extremely limited humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza.
Israel believes that 134 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, while it holds at least 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources from both parties.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli war has killed more than 29,690 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Nearly 70,000 people have been injured.
Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi