““We are now trying to solve this problem” – State Secretary”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“I am confident and I fully expect that the implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” Blinken said at a farewell press conference on January 16.
He says the administration of US President Joe Biden, whose term ends on Monday, has spoken by phone to try to resolve issues surrounding the truce.
“It is not surprising that in the process, in the negotiations, which were so difficult and risky, you can get certain unresolved little things. We are now trying to solve this problem,” says Blinken.
American media reported on Thursday that there were last-minute disagreements over the details of a cease-fire agreement in exchange for the release of hostages in Gaza.
The dispute revolved around the identities of several prisoners whom the US and EU-recognized terrorist group Hamas is demanding to be released, a US official told Reuters.
At the same time, an American official familiar with the negotiations told the AR agency that Hamas had made last-minute changes to the distance Israeli troops would withdraw from a densely populated area in Gaza, which the official did not name. The issue is expected to be resolved quickly, he said, and the ceasefire will begin as planned this weekend.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on January 16 that Hamas is trying to revise several provisions of the agreements reached the day before on the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages at the last moment.
Agreements on a temporary ceasefire and the release of some of the Israeli hostages captured during the October 7, 2023 attack were announced the day before. It was claimed that the agreement would take effect on January 19.
Israeli mass media cite the terms of the agreement. According to them, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages. In response, Israel undertakes to release prisoners found guilty of collaboration with Hamas and attacks on Israelis. In exchange for each civilian hostage, Hamas will receive 30 convicts, and for each military serviceman – 50 convicts. It is not specified how many of the hostages are alive, and how many are about to be handed over.
The agreement calls for a six-week ceasefire, the sending of 600 humanitarian aid trucks to the Gaza Strip, and the gradual withdrawal of IDF troops from the territory.