Israel has agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on August 15 at the request of mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday, as regional tensions escalate over the war.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled civil defence agency said Israeli bombings hit two schools on Thursday, killing more than 18 people, while Iran accused Israel of spreading war in the Middle East.
Following a week-long pause in November, mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt have attempted to broker a second ceasefire in the 10-month war, which began after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the leaders of the three countries invited the warring parties to resume talks in Doha or Cairo on August 15 to “bridge all remaining gaps and begin the implementation of the agreement without further delay.”
He said a framework agreement was “now under consideration, with only implementation details remaining”, and that mediators were “ready to present final proposals” to resolve remaining issues.
Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that Israel would send a negotiating team to the agreed location on Aug. 15 “to reach final decisions on the details of the agreement’s implementation.”
The potential cessation of hostilities in Gaza centres on a phased agreement with an initial ceasefire, including the release of hostages and increased aid deliveries.
Recent discussions have centered on a framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in late May, which he said was proposed by Israel.
“It’s not like the agreement will be ready to sign on Thursday. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” a senior Biden administration official said of the talks that follow talks this week between Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Israel has been “very receptive” to the idea of ​​talks, and rejected suggestions that Netanyahu was delaying a deal.
The announcement of the talks came after Hamas declared Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack, as its new leader, raising fears that the torturous negotiations have become even more difficult.
– ‘Strategic blunder’ –
The Hamas-controlled Civil Defense Agency in Gaza said Israeli strikes hit the Al-Zahraa and Abdel Fattah Hamoud schools in Gaza City, killing more than 18 people.
Senior agency official Mohammed al-Mugayyar said 60 people were injured and more than 40 were still missing.
“This is a clear case of targeting schools and secure civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The Israeli military said these schools were Hamas command centers.
At least 13 people were killed elsewhere in Gaza, rescue workers and medics said, while the Israeli military issued a latest evacuation order for parts of the southern town of Khan Younis.
Diplomats stressed efforts to ease tensions in the region, which have escalated following the killing of two top militant leaders in attacks blamed on Israel, with militants and their Iranian backers vowing revenge.
Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told AFP that Israel had made a “strategic mistake” by assassinating Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week – just hours after the killing of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut.
Although Israel has not acknowledged killing Haniyeh, Iran and its allies have vowed to retaliate.
Bagheri said Israel “wants to spread tension, war and conflict to other countries”, but it has “neither the capability nor the strength” to fight Iran.
Speaking at a military base on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israel was “prepared both defensively and offensively” and “determined” to defend itself.
– ‘Cycle of Vengeance’ –
Officials in the Middle East and elsewhere have called for calm. “We must see a de-escalation of tensions,” Britain’s international development minister Anneliese Dodds told AFP during a visit to Jordan.
The United States, which has sent additional warships and jets to the region, has urged both Iran and Israel to avoid escalating tensions.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday to his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian and later to Israel’s Netanyahu and asked both to “avoid a cycle of vengeance,” according to the French presidency.
The Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip has already drawn in Tehran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Lebanon’s Hamas ally Hezbollah, which has exchanged almost daily cross-border fire with Israeli troops during the Gaza war, has vowed to avenge the killing of military chief Fuad Shukr.
– Israel’s Prime Minister apologized –
The unprecedented Hamas offensive that fueled the war in Gaza killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, 39 of whom the Israeli military says are dead.
At least 39,699 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, though the ministry did not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Netanyahu, who has avoided apologizing for security failures in Israel’s worst ever attack, said in an interview published Thursday that he “deeply regrets that something like this happened.”
“You always look back and say, ‘Could we have done something to prevent this from happening?'” Netanyahu told Time magazine.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
