Israel and Hamas would be negotiating an agreement to release dozens of hostages in exchange for a five-day pause in the bombing of Gaza, as published this Saturday by The Washington Post and the US Government has confirmed this Sunday that, although it has not delved into details about a truce, he has indicated that the pact is “close.”

The agreement, mediated by Qatar, could be launched in the coming days, allowing the release of some of the 240 hostages, children and women kidnapped by the Islamist group. In addition, it would facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing, on the border between the Strip and Gaza.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, stated this Saturday in a column in the same Washington Post that his “heart aches” for the loss of lives of Palestinian civilians, but he once again opposed a ceasefire because he believes that it would be taken advantage of by Hamas to “rebuild its rocket arsenal” and prepare new attacks on Israel.

However, the Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, told the NBC channel this Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “closer” than ever to closing an agreement, and although he has not specified numbers of those released, he has indicated that they would be ” much larger than 12″.

“What I can say at this time is that some of the pending areas of disagreement, in very complicated and very sensitive negotiations, have been reduced,” Finer said on NBC's Meet the Press program, without giving details about the agreement. .

“We are not going to summarize all the details of what is still being discussed. We believe that it is necessary to do it (the agreement); “People are being held in unconscionable conditions inside Gaza, including several Americans, and they need to be allowed to return home,” he said.

Finer has also not given details about the pause in hostilities, but has stressed that it is necessary to be able to execute the agreement because to execute it “would involve moving hostages”, making it a “very dangerous battlefield in Gaza.”

“Without going into the duration, one of the things that the parties themselves have said, even publicly, is that this could, and probably would, include an extended period of a multi-day pause in fighting,” he added. This pause would have the “important benefit of facilitating the distribution of humanitarian assistance, that is a priority under any circumstances, even if there is no hostage agreement.”

The agreement would be reflected in a six-page document and, in principle, provides for aerial surveillance to monitor compliance, according to the American newspaper. If carried out, it would be the first sustained pause in the Israeli offensive in the enclave since the start of the war.

Gaza hospitals out of service

While a temporary truce is being negotiated, all hospitals in the capital of Gaza are out of service and only two small clinics in the city remain operational, the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, confirmed this Sunday.. This has caused 31 premature babies in Al Shifa hospital to be transferred to Egypt to receive adequate medical care.

The Israeli Army accuses Hamas of using civilian infrastructure as a shield, including hospitals. In fact, this Sunday he claimed to have found a “fortified tunnel” under the Al Shifa hospital, where he alleges that the Islamist group Hamas has its main command center, and has shown photos and videos of the discovery.

“Based on intelligence information from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet (internal security agency), soldiers exposed a 55-meter-long and 10-meter-deep terrorist tunnel beneath the Shifa hospital complex,” he said. a military statement.

The 31 premature babies, whose lives were feared due to the incessant Israeli military offensive, were finally evacuated this Sunday to the south of the Strip bound for Egyptian territory, as confirmed by the Palestinian Red Crescent, which carried out the operation in coordination with the WHO and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

For its part, the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported that the babies have arrived at the Al Sultan hospital, located in Rafah, a town at the southern end of the Palestinian enclave that borders Egypt. The country is expected to receive the babies this Monday – along with their mothers or closest relatives – to provide them with adequate medical care.

The risk to the lives of babies has been going on for more than a week, when Israeli troops surrounded the Al Shifa hospital, which was already almost non-functional due to the lack of electricity due to fuel shortages.. In total, in just over a week nine babies have died due to lack of oxygen and energy in the incubators, according to Health.

Beyond the transfer of the babies, the WHO is also trying to evacuate the rest of the staff and patients in serious condition who have had to stay in the hospital.. These are expected to be taken to the Nasser Complex and the European Hospital in Gaza, both in the south of the strip, the WHO indicated, clarifying that these two centers are also at the limit of their capacity.

In this sense, countries in the international community are beginning to offer to receive Palestinian minors in their hospitals, as is the case of France. French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the country's readiness to receive sick or injured Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip in its hospitals.

Elysée sources cited by the French television network BFMTV have indicated that Macron conveyed this intention to the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattá al Sisi, during a telephone conversation held on Saturday, when he also confirmed the sending of a new plane with ten tons of medical material. .

Likewise, he reiterated his call for “international cooperation to fight terrorism” and opted for “resuming the peace process” to “respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to have a State and live in peace and security alongside the State.” From Israel”.

Macron also stressed “the need for an immediate humanitarian truce that leads to a ceasefire” in order to deliver aid “in the safest way possible” to the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip, while announcing the sending a second medical vessel to support humanitarian efforts in the area.