The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refuted reports that Israel agreed to a U.S. request for a humanitarian ceasefire to facilitate polio vaccinations in Gaza.
According to Netanyahu’s office, “The reports that Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza are incorrect.”
The statement clarified that the arrangement was not a ceasefire but merely a designation of specific areas within the sector to administer polio vaccines.
The clarification comes amid Israeli media reports that suggested Israel, under American pressure, had agreed to a “ceasefire” in Gaza to carry out polio vaccination campaigns for children.
Channel 13 in Israel reported that Netanyahu had decided to implement a humanitarian truce without informing his ministers.
However, Netanyahu’s office emphasized, “Israel will not implement a humanitarian ceasefire across all of Gaza but only in specific areas. We have allocated sites for child vaccinations in Gaza… This is not a ceasefire.”
This development follows a series of “technical and workgroup-level” talks in Doha involving negotiators from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Israel regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, as reported by Reuters.
An American official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the discussions, which started days earlier in Cairo, continue in Doha concerning the ceasefire and the release of detainees in the Gaza Strip.
The official, who asked not to be named, mentioned that Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden’s Middle East advisor, was present in the Qatari capital.
Israeli media also reported on Tuesday night that Israel would send a technical delegation to Doha to narrow the gaps concerning a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the exchange of detainees.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli technical delegation, comprising members from the army, the Mossad (foreign intelligence), and the Shin Bet (internal security), had held consultations in Israel upon returning from Cairo.
Despite ongoing mediation led by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States for months and presenting one ceasefire proposal after another to end the war on Gaza and exchange detainees, Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to add conditions for accepting the agreement.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Mossad Chief David Barnea warned that these conditions could obstruct reaching a deal.
