The parties still feel great suspicion towards each other.
Hopes for a cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas organization in Gaza have weakened again, says The Wall Street Journal referring to his Arab sources.
The parties have been very close to an agreement, with the United States, Egypt and Qatar facilitating the negotiations. Outgoing President of the United States Joe Biden has put its prestige in negotiations.
Now, according to the newspaper, it seems that the agreement will not be reached in the last days of Biden’s term.
The problems have become the details of the concessions, the newspaper says. The goal has been to have a 60-day ceasefire. At the same time, both sides would release their prisoners. Hamas would release its 30 hostages, of which Israel estimates there are still 96.
There are disagreements at least about which prisoners would be released, how widely Israel would open the blockade of Gaza, and whether negotiations for a permanent peace would be started immediately during the ceasefire.