US envoy Steve Witkoff is in Sardinia, where, according to rumors, a high-level summit is scheduled to take place aboard a yacht moored in the Costa Smeralda with representatives of Israel and Qatar to reach a truce in Gaza.
But the negotiations ended in a stalemate . Witkoff himself (whose arrival on the island was reportedly anticipated by the entry of a US aircraft carrier into the Sardinian Channel for protection and security reasons ) spoke yesterday of a "selfish position" on the part of Hamas . The group in power in Gaza reportedly asked Israel to release a higher number of prisoners than initially estimated in exchange for the release of the hostages . Hence the failure of the new round of negotiations, with the withdrawal of the US negotiating team from Qatar, where attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Strip have been underway for months.
For its part, President Emmanuel Macron has just announced that France will recognize Palestine as a state, a move that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has called "a reward for terror," echoing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's sentiments, saying the French move is a "reckless decision that the United States firmly rejects."
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(Unioneonline)
