Skip to main content

Saudi efforts to revitalize Palestinian leadership as Gaza talks advance

While negotiators from the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt work to iron out a deal for the release of Israeli hostages and a truce in Gaza, Fatah leaders are working to secure the organization's postwar role.

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured from a position along the border with southern Israel on January 31, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured from a position along the border with southern Israel on January 31, 2024. — JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

You're reading an excerpt from the Palestine Briefing, where we break down Palestine's top political, security and business stories each week. To read the full newsletter, sign up here.  

It appears that the coming hours and days will be a nail-biter as Israel ratchets up its military campaign in southern Gaza while simultaneously trying to negotiate a hostage release deal. At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials maintain that the Gaza war will not end with any such deal. 

Negotiators from the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt met in Paris over the last few days to work on what appears to be a complicated and comprehensive deal that will include a cessation of violence in Gaza, a gradual release of Israeli hostages in the Strip and Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, and a robust infusion of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. 

Israel's deepening push in southern Gaza 

Israeli troops, while continuing to suffer casualties, are pushing hard on the ground in Khan Younis, but a salvo of rockets fired by militants in southern Gaza on the Tel Aviv metropolitan area Sunday night appeared to be aimed at sending a strong message that Hamas remains able to fight. 

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish