Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Fall Flat

Another round of talks aimed at producing a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza were held in Cairo, Egypt, earlier today. However, according to Axios, citing Israeli officials, the negotiations have largely fallen flat, and a ceasefire deal is unlikely to come in the near future..Doomed from the Start?.Today's ceasefire negotiations notably come just a few days after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was killed alongside his bodyguard in an attack on a guest residence in Iran, as he was attending the presidential inauguration ceremony for the newly elected Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian..Israel has not confirmed nor denied its involvement in the assassination of Haniyeh, however, Iran, among many other nations and groups, have blamed Israel for the assassination. A number of countries have condemned the assassination..One such nation was Qatar, where Haniyeh had been residing for several years. Qatar has been central to negotiation processes throughout the war, personally hosting several rounds of negotiations in Doha, Qatar. However, Qatar today refused to participate in the negotiations in Cairo due to the politically sensitive nature of holding talks so soon after Haniyeh's assassination..Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani condemned the assassination personally and stated that the recent assassinations carried out by Israel, alongside what he claimed to be Israel's targeting of civilians in Gaza, called into question Israel's commitment to peace processes..Egypt, the host of today's negotiations, also questioned Israel's commitment to the talks, stating that the assassination served to undermine "the strenuous efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip," and "indicate the absence of Israeli political will to calm the situation.".In addition to Haniyeh's assassination, Israel recently added several more terms for a ceasefire agreement to be reached that many believe Hamas will find unacceptable..Despite the assassination and contentious terms, Israel sent a delegation to the negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused by opposition forces of sabotaging negotiations. The Prime Minister's office released a statement rejecting this assertion, instead claiming the delays in negotiations to be the fault of Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza.."Sinwar is the obstacle to the agreement, not the prime minister." -An excerpt of a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office.Criticism of recent actions taken by Netanyahu has reportedly come from within the Israeli military and government itself..Israel's N12 news station quoted Israeli Major General Nitzan Alon as saying, directed towards Netanyahu, that "you know that all the parameters you added will not be accepted and there will be no deal. There is nothing to go on.".The negotiations in Cairo reportedly took place with American insistence and pressure upon both Egypt and Israel. US President Joe Biden is reported to have held a phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, one day after the assassination of Haniyeh..In the phone call, President Biden apparently expressed anger about the assassination, particularly since they had a conversation the previous week in which Netanyahu had stated they were moving closer towards securing a hostage deal. Further, President Biden reiterated the US' wish that Israel move toward accepting a deal as soon as possible..US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed a similar sentiment, stating that "all parties must stop taking escalatory actions and find reasons to come to an agreement, not to look for reasons to delay or say no to the agreement.".These stalls in ceasefire negotiations come soon after US officials, namely Secretary Blinken, had claimed that a ceasefire deal was close to being reached..Sources now predict that such a deal is a long way off.