A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has not yet been reached as there is a complete lack of trust between both sides, former Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin says.
#Israel #Gaza
#Israel #Gaza
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00:00Gershon, can we start with the current status of talks between Israel and Hamas, and what
00:06is your understanding of why no solution has been reached, despite repeated attempts that
00:13we've seen?
00:14Well, the state of the negotiations demonstrates the total lack of trust between the two parties,
00:20who each accuse the other of lying and deceiving.
00:24They have been talking for months about a phased deal, during which time there would
00:29be an initial period of six weeks of ceasefire, when Hamas will release about 30 Israeli hostages,
00:36and Israel will release a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
00:40It's supposed to go into a second phase of another six-week period, during which time
00:44Israel would withdraw from Gaza.
00:46But Hamas is demanding that Israel obligate itself to end the war, and Israel is not ready
00:51to do that.
00:52There's an argument between Israel and Hamas over the list of names of hostages that would
00:57be released in the first wave.
00:59Israel is demanding that all the hostages who are defined as civilians, not military,
01:05would be released, and in addition to them, anyone who is wounded or sick, the elderly
01:10for sure.
01:12And Hamas says that they don't have 30 or 32 hostages in that category, and they want
01:17to include some of the dead hostages, and Israel is rejecting that.
01:21There's no direct communication, and it's very difficult to negotiate these kind of
01:26deals when there's no trust.