MidEast cease-fire efforts gain steam as US envoy visits - AP explains

(23 Feb 2024)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER:4479720

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerusalem - 22 February 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Federman, Associated Press:
“After weeks of deadlock, international mediators appear to be making progress in efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The White House has sent a senior envoy to the region, and it says that his talks with Israeli leaders have been going well. At the same time, international mediators say they see new and encouraging signs of flexibility from the warring parties. Now this diplomacy comes ahead of an expected summit this weekend in Paris. That's where the international mediators including the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, are expected to present some new proposals. Israel has agreed to send a high level delegation to participate in these talks. Now, this is not a guarantee of success. There are still wide gaps between the sides, but they do appear to have an interest in reaching a deal, ahead of the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10th. That's a particularly sensitive time in both sides appear to want to calm things down before then. In the meantime, fighting is continuing. There was heavy fighting in Gaza. Over 70 people have been killed in a 24 hour period. And in the West Bank, a deadly shooting - Palestinian gunmen attacking traffic outside of Jerusalem. One Israeli was killed, several were wounded. This is just another reminder of how the war in Gaza risks spreading across the region, and of those escalating tensions ahead of Ramadan.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
AP's news director for Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan says international efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appear to have gained new momentum.

The White House said talks between a senior visiting U.S. envoy and Israeli leaders were “going well” and other mediators reported encouraging signs from the warring parties.

Hamas says its political leader has left Egypt after holding talks with Egyptian officials about a possible cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and an exchange of hostages held by the militants for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

In a statement early Friday, it said that its top leader in exile, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel about ways of ending the war, a hostage deal and the flow of aid to Gaza..

The talks in Cairo came ahead of an expected high-level meeting in Paris this weekend where international mediators plan to present a new proposal to the warring sides.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been struggling for weeks to find a formula that could halt Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza, but now face an unofficial deadline as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches.

Egypt and Qatar have been the mediators talking to Hamas’ leadership.

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[marvelousministry]

How many BILLIONS will America hand out that we DONT HAVE.

[robmar]

After the start of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the number of Palestinians held in administrative detention rose from 1, 319 to 2, 070 between 1 October 2023 and 1 November 2023. The number of prisoners in administrative detention continued to increase to 3, 291 in January 2024.

[janetprice]

AP has no cred. You did nothing on Oct 7th.

[VolReed]

There should never be a ceasefire when dealing with terrorists and their supporters

[theOrkinMan]

Stop the spending
NO MORE WAR!
MAGA 2024

[JohnPeters-qjkn]

No they don't...no such thing... victory in sight....

[robmar]

How does Israel treat Palestinian prisoners?
Testimonies and video evidence also point to numerous incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including severe beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians who are detained in dire conditions, ” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.Nov 2023

[farrah]

🤔 anyone notice anything.. odd in the back drop? 🤔