By Gwen McClure on The Detail (RNZ)…
In the past week, Israel sent the head of its spy agency to Qatar for negotiations, and Hamas agreed to begin talks about releasing Israeli hostages.
But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that a ceasefire deal must allow his country to keep fighting, and Hamas accused him of obstructing progress.
For much of the past nine months, since Hamas’ initial attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s near-immediate retaliation, it’s been one step forward, one back for peace talks.
This latest is more of the same.
The deal currently under consideration was proposed by US President Joe Biden in late May, and passed by the United Nations Security Council in June. It has three phases.
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