LIVE MIDDLE EAST. Egypt: “Gaza ceasefire talks hopeful” – Pro-Palestinian students refuse to leave Columbia University | Instagram VTM NEWS

Egypt has good hope for the proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza that representatives of Hamas brought from Cairo, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry reported late Monday evening. Egyptian intelligence sources told Reuters news agency a response within two days at to expect of the Palestinian organization.

On Sunday, a senior Hamas official told the AFP news agency that the movement has “no major problems” with Israel’s latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s about a plan for a forty-day ceasefire and the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Israeli hostagesBritish Foreign Secretary David Cameron confirmed on Monday.

“We have I hope that the proposal takes into account the position of both parties and encourages both sides to moderate” said Shoukry. “There are factors on both sides that will have consequences. But I hope everyone seizes this moment to recognize that we cannot continue with this situation that continues to cost lives.”

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been acting as mediators for a truce between Israel and Hamas for months. So far it is only managed to close a deal once. A week-long truce was in effect in November. That week, more than a hundred hostages were released in exchange for three times as many Palestinian prisoners.

A delegation of the Palestinian radical organization Hamas has the Leaving the Egyptian capital Cairo and returns with one “written response” to the latest ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip. This is reported by an Egyptian news site affiliated with the intelligence services. A source close to Hamas told AFP that the delegation traveled back to Doha and that the answer was given “as soon as possible”. is becoming.

Hamas’ response to the Israeli counter-proposal was expected on Monday. There was one last weekend positive atmosphere at the negotiating tableand the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said he was hopeful about a new ceasefire.

Shoukry says it holds current ceasefire proposal takes into account “the positions of both sides” and “shows moderation”. “We await the final decision. Certain factors will have an impact on the decision of both parties, but I hope everyone is up to the task,” he added.

His American colleague Antony Blinken talked about a “extremely generous proposal”.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to negotiate an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a new ceasefire and release of hostages. The previous, and only, ceasefire lasted a few days in late November.

European and Arab foreign ministers discussed ways to join forces to achieve a two-state solution in the Middle East in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday.

“If we progress want to book in the two-state solutionit will not come from the warring parties,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. “I don’t think Israel is willing to negotiate, nor that the United States wants to provide the necessary leadership to reach such a solution to come. Arab-European leadership is the best we can hope for.” Norway is one of the organizers of the summit.

The consultations take place on the sidelines of a special meeting of the World Economic Forum dedicated to the war in Gaza.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, along with other attendees, indicated that tangible and irreversible steps towards establishment of a Palestinian state must be an essential part of any lasting ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the creation of such a Palestinian state.

Said earlier on Monday EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell that he is the encourages Arab countries to put forward their proposals for a two-state solution. “My only hope is to believe that if the Arabs come forward with a proposal, Europeans will be led to overcome their differences. I propose to Member States to invite Arabs to Brussels and share their plan with us, as we must try to coordinate our approaches.”

Pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University in New York are refusing to leave campus, even after university head Minouche Shafik called on Monday to leave the camp site. Tensions therefore ran high at the university, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American campuses.

In a document handed out to the demonstrators, entitled “Notice to the Camp”, the university demanded that they leave the site by 2pm (6pm GMT). If they don’t, “you will be suspended pending an investigation,” the document said.

Students then called a meeting, followed by a press conference to “protect the camp.” “We will not be deported except by force,” shouted a student leader.

When the ultimatum expired, dozens of young people marched on campus, their faces hidden with masks. They clapped their hands and chanted “Free Palestine,” according to an AFP journalist who counted about 50 people who remained in the camp.

The pro-Palestinian protest at American universities has been going on for about ten days. The wave of protests started at Columbia University. About a hundred students were arrested on April 18 for occupying a campus lawn to demand an end to the war in Gaza. Since then, similar actions have been held at more and more universities in the US and more than 700 demonstrators have been arrested.

If Israel does invade the refugee-packed Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the European Union will take action. “Then we will consult with our Member States and take action,” says European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But she does not want to say whether the EU will then impose sanctions.

Radical left-wing European party leader Walter Baier asked Von der Leyen during an EU election debate in Maastricht why the EU keeps letting Israel do its thing. When GroenLinks member Bas Eickhout, figurehead of the European Greens, asked whether punitive measures would follow a raid on Rafah, the committee chairman faltered. She would find that “completely unacceptable”, but “never draws red lines”. “Completely unsatisfactory,” Baier said.

The EU countries decide on sanctions, but foreign policy chief and European Commissioner Josep Borrell usually proposes them.

Iraq has repatriated at least 160 Iraqi families, a total of about 700 people, from the Syrian Al-Hol prison camp, where the relatives of jihadis from the terrorist group IS are staying. An Iraqi official in northern Iraq, where the group arrived, announced this on Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has an extensive network in Syria, confirmed on Sunday the departure of the Iraqi families (714 people) from Al-Hol, in northeastern Syria.

The local official explained anonymously that the families would be held in the Al-Jadaa camp for a period of “psychological rehabilitation”. This must ensure that they are able to “return to their regions of origin” and guarantee that they pose no danger and have no jihadist links.

More than 43,000 people live in the overcrowded Al-Hol camp, which is under Kurdish control. These include Syrian displaced persons, Iraqi refugees and thousands of foreigners from at least 45 countries, including families of IS jihadis.

The return of relatives of jihadis is also controversial in Iraq. Part of the population suffered greatly for three years from the atrocities of IS, which controlled parts of Iraq from 2014 to 2017. At one point it controlled a third of the country.

Despite repeated insistence from the Kurdish authorities, most Western countries refuse to repatriate their citizens from the camps. They are afraid of possible terrorist acts on their territory. In the past, Belgium repatriated several dozen women and children from camps in Syria.

The United States has determined that five units of the Israeli army are responsible for gross violations of the human rights of Palestinians. This concerns abuses in the occupied West Bank before the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in the Gaza Strip in October.

“Effective” intervention and “corrective” measures were taken in four units. The possibility of American sanctions has therefore been removed, according to the Foreign Ministry in Washington. Discussions continue between the Israeli and US governments regarding the fifth army unit, about which Israel provided additional information.