As talks stall, hopes dim for hostage release deal, truce before Ramadan — report

Hopes are dimming that an agreement to release hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 and secure a temporary truce to that would fighting in Gaza can be reached before the start of Ramadan next week, the New York Times reports citing US and Mideast officials.

The US has been pushing hard for an agreement before the Muslim fasting month begins on March 10 and has called on Hamas to accept the terms of a framework worked out in Paris last month that would put in place a six-week pause in fighting and a release of some 40 hostages in an initial phase in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners.

As talks appear to stall given Hamas’s insistent demands for a permanent ceasefire, those hopes have diminished, officials tell the New York Times.

Officials briefed on the talks say Hamas has “backed away” from the proposed agreement in Paris and in addition to a permanent ceasefire, also demands the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes in the north, and “provisions for the needs of our people.”

One regional official tells the publication that the main sticking point is the demand for a permanent ceasefire during or after the three phases of the hostage releases proposed in Paris, which Israel has refused.

Talks have moved from Doha to Cairo in recent days as the negotiations appear to flounder, according to the report. Israel has not sent a delegation to the talks since Hamas has refused to provide a list of living hostages to secure the deal. The US has backed Israel’s position and has said the request is legitimate.

According to the report, the officials believe Hamas has issued new demands for a variety of reasons including a belief that drawing out the fighting into Ramadan will weaken Israel. The terror group has called for a march on the flashpoint Temple Mount site in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month, in moves the Israelis believe are designed to stir up violence.

“Hamas, according to people briefed on the talks, believes an action at the mosque will show its strength despite the monthslong Israeli military campaign in Gaza and could increase pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to end the fighting,” the report reads.

An incident last week in which dozens of Gazans were killed rushing an aid convoy and which drew international condemnation against Israel, including from the US, has also emboldened Hamas and its position in the talks, some officials believe, according to the report.

Blinken thanks Jordan for coordinating joint aid airdrop to Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi in a call today for the close partnership between the two countries “in coordinating joint US-Jordan airdrops to Gaza to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.”

The US made its second airdrop of aid into Gaza yesterday in a joint operation with Jordan, Egypt, and France.

According to State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, Blinken “emphasized that it is critical significant amounts of additional humanitarian assistance be delivered” to Gaza.

Blinken and Safadi also discussed “efforts to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks as part of a deal that would release hostages and surge humanitarian assistance,” Miller says.

Blinken also “underscored the need to preserve the historic status quo” at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount site and “recognized the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s special role with respect to the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.”

3 killed in first fatal Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping, CENTCOM says

LONDON – A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) says, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world’s busiest trade lanes.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden.

In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britain’s embassy wrote: “At least 2 innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop.”

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

Britain and the United States have been launching retaliatory strikes against the Houthis, and the confirmation of fatalities could lead to pressure for stronger military action.

CENTCOM says the Houthi strike also injured at least four crew members and caused “significant damage” to the ship. Earlier, a shipping source said four mariners had been severely burned and three were missing after the attack.

The Greek operators of the True Confidence said the vessel was drifting and on fire. They said no information was available about the status of the 20 crew and three armed guards on board, who included 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian and a Nepali national.

UN to test Israeli military road to get aid to Gaza’s north

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations will assess on Thursday how it can use an Israeli military road bordering the Gaza Strip to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians in the north of the Palestinian enclave, a senior UN aid official says.

The UN has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are on the brink of famine.

Jamie McGoldrick, UN aid coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, says the UN had been pushing Israel for weeks to use the Gaza border fence road and had received much more cooperation in the past week.