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Thursday's Final Word
Hamas posted a sick photograph of a dead hostage killed in captivity as ‘last chance’ ceasefire talks started yesterday.
The terror group refused to meet its Israeli counterparts in Doha for the latest round of negotiations despite immense pressure on both sides to finally end the war.
Instead it shared the image of Ofir Tsarfati’s body under the headline ‘an unfortunate incident’ stating: ‘Your brutality has become an imminent danger to your prisoners’.
A source claimed a guard ‘acted against orders in revenge after receiving news of the martyrdom of his two children in one of the enemy’s massacres’.
The IDF said Tsarfati’s body was recovered in November after being murdered by the group and confirmed the family had been informed.
It suggests the terror group only published it on Thursday as part of twisted mind games with Israeli negotiators.
Hamas shared an image of the body of Ofir Tsarfati, whose body was recovered in November
Ofir’s (pictured) mother said she would like to remember her son as he was: ‘a perfect man, handsome, smiling, and happy’
People stage a protest in front of the Defense Ministry building demanding the government sign a ceasefire and hostage swap deal on Thursday
Protests have been ongoing in Tel Aviv for months, calling for an end to the war
The mother of the hostage whose picture Hamas cruelly posted last night called on both sides to reach a deal as she asked that her son is remembered as a ‘perfect man’.
Tsarfati was kidnapped from the Nova festival before his body was recovered in November.
His mother, Richelle, said: ‘After ten and a half months of a difficult and painful war, Hamas has chosen today to release a photo of Ofir. I choose not to look at the image Hamas published.
‘Instead, I want to remember Ofir as he was: a perfect man, handsome, smiling, and happy—not as Hamas has decided to portray him in their despicable psychological warfare.
‘What’s important today is for the developing deal to be implemented successfully.
‘There are 115 hostages who must return home—the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper Jewish burial.
‘What’s important today is that the team succeeds and does everything possible to return home with a deal. Everyone needs to come back home, every single person. And now.’
Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to get a deal with 111 hostages still in Gaza of which at least 39 are dead, according to the IDF.
His bloody war has also now seen over 40,000 Palestinians die, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Hamas political official Osama Hamdan speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Doha on August 13
Palestinians rush towards a column of smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment which hit a school complex on August 3
Damage to a building in Be’eri kibbutz in Israel following Hamas’ October 7 attacks
Ofir Tsarfati was kidnapped from the Nova festival on October 7 (site pictured on Oct 17)
Talks got back under way in the Qatari capital to try and implement a proposal lined out by President Joe Biden on May 31.
Israeli officials said they considered this the ‘last chance’ to reach a compromise and said they had been given a slightly expanded mandate.
CIA director William Burns was due to attend following a joint appeal by US, UK, French and German ambassadors to get the deal done.
While Hamas is not participating, intermediaries from Egypt and Qatar are in close contact with the terror group and it is still hoped they can push them into agreement.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said now is the time ‘when it gets the hardest and most gritty’, adding: ‘Hopefully we’ll make some progress here in the coming hours and days.’
There is added pressure as Iran has said it will strike Israel directly if peace talks fail. Tehran had promised to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last month but is holding off dependant on the negotiations.
Last week, the mediators called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks. They said a framework agreement was ‘now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude’ and they had a bridging proposal to overcome their differences.
The first phase of the deal would include a ‘full and complete ceasefire’ lasting six weeks and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza.
At this point all female hostages, the elderly and the sick or wounded will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase would involve the release of all other living hostages and a ‘permanent end to hostilities’ before a third phase of reconstruction of Gaza and the return of dead hostages.
Hamas has said it will ‘not engage in negotiations for the sake of negotiations in order to provide cover for Israel to continue its war’.
It accused Netanyahu of having ‘added new conditions’ and reneging on Biden’s outline – a claim hotly contested by the Israeli PM.
A boy sits in a trailer at a makeshift camp for the displaced in Gaza on August 13, 2024
Smoke billows in Gaza City on October 12, 2023, five days after Hamas’ incursion into Israel
A man mourns over the shrouded body of a family member in Gaza City on August 10
There are growing fears of a regional war if each side is unable to reach a compromise.
David Lammy is due to land in Tel Aviv today for a meeting with his Israeli and French counterparts.
The British Foreign Secretary said: ‘We are at a crucial moment for global stability. The coming hours and days could define the future of the Middle East.
‘That is why today, and every day, we are urging for our partners across the region to choose peace.’
He is set to meet Israel Katz and Stephane Sejourne as he pushes for diplomats to make a deal in Doha.
‘These talks are an opportunity to secure an immediate ceasefire that protects civilians in Gaza, secures the release of hostages still cruelly held by Hamas and restores stability at a dangerous moment for the region,’ he said.
‘The UK will continue to use every diplomatic lever to bring about a ceasefire.’
