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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continued his talks with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Qatar for a second day, in what many believe is a follow up meeting to the talks on the previous day, which had lasted for three hours.
The discussions, which have been taking place at Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s palace, started after fighting resumed in Gaza on Tuesday after the Egyptian-brokered truce deal collapsed – the talks broke down when Israel insisted on the complete demilitarization of the Palestinian enclave and Hamas insisting on an end to the eight-year blockade of Gaza.
No information was available on the content of the talks in Qatar; Abbas will reportedly leave Doha after Friday’s meeting.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, declared that truce talks were over on Wednesday after Israel tried to kill its leader Mohammed Deif.
On Thursday, Germany, France and Britain presented a draft resolution in the UN Security Council, calling for a sustainable and immediate ceasefire and the removal of the Israeli blockade. According to sources, the document was aimed at advancing truce efforts within the council after an earlier draft made by Jordan was met with resistance from the United States.
On several occasions in the past, the US has wielded its veto power in the Council on behalf on Israel, its ally in the Middle East. However, relations between the two have been somewhat strenuous of late, especially after the breakdown of US-mediated peace talks, when the US raised concerns over the death toll in the Gaza Strip.
The new draft proposes a mechanism to oversee the ceasefire and the movement of goods into the Palestinian enclave to allay Israel’s security concerns. It also called for the Palestinian Authority and its President Mahmoud Abbas to regain control of Hamas after he was driven out by Hamas when it was elected in the territory seven years ago.
