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Six-months post-Hamas invaded Israel spurring current conflict · Kvetch & Release

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  Yesterday marked six months since Hamas's deadly attack into Israel. Since then, we
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  have seen mass displacement, food scarcity. The UN and other international organizations say
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  that famine is rapidly approaching and the situation continues to be dire. Joining me
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  right now to discuss is CTV Nationals, Tony Grace, Tony, it's really
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  really been a grim six months of fighting in Gaza. Is there any progress
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  had aiding towards a ceasefire since both sides are meeting again in Egypt? Well,
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  you know, John, there were signals that there was some progress yesterday
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  when we had heard that delegations from both Israel and Hamas had been sent to
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  Cairo to be involved in a fresh round of talks on a possible pause in
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  the hostility a ceasefire. However, we're just learning this afternoon from senior Hamas
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  official who has spoken to the Reuters news agency that Hamas has rejected the latest
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  Israeli ceasefire proposal. So it seems that we are back at the drawing board
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  in terms of talks that may lead to an actual ceasefire. But there were
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  talks yesterday. We were getting mixed signals on how they were going, and
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  then that news wire just breaking from the Reuters news agency a little while ago.
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  So it does appear that we're not going to get something in time for
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  any of the military activities to stop at this point in Israel, because Israel
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  has just hinted yesterday that it's going ahead with its plan to continue trying to
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  root out Hamas in Gaza. So it looks like, you know, hopes
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  for a ceasefire are on hold again, John, at least for now.
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  Well, that is some breaking news for our listeners here right now. Do
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  we know what some of the impasses are in regards to trying to get that
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  ceasefire? What are some of the sticking points? We had heard that a
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  couple of the sticking points that kept coming up were the terms surrounding the release
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  of Israeli hostages. Of course, something that is something that Israel has demanded
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  must be part of any ceasefire solution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo meeting with his
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  war cabinet last night and saying once again that any ceasefire has to include a
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  deal to release those hostages more than one hundred who were still believed to be
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  held in captivity by Hamas. Of course, we had also heard confirmation over
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  the months that more than thirty were dead, and then there were some that
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  were returned, but we understand the number is still over one hundred. So
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  that, of course is one sticking point. Another is the terms surrounding the
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  relocation of civilians who've been displaced in Gaza. You know, John, we've
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  heard that up to one point eight million civilians in Gaza have been displaced as
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  this military campaign continues by Israel targeting Hamas in Gaza in response to that deadly
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  attacked by Hamas on October the seventh, So what will that look like,
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  What will the terms be, What will the agreement be to relocate the many,
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  many hundreds of thousands of civilians who've been displaced in Gaza. Those may
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  well be two of the points that they could not come to terms on,
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  but that is just going by what they've been reporting so far out of those
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  talks. And there's been no official reason as to why Hamas rejected this latest
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  Israeli ceasefire proposal, at least not yet. And you know, the region
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  right now as well is just tumultuous, of course, with the heavy fighting
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  going on against Hamas, within Gaza. There's also coming from Lebanon, and
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  with Hesbollah and other militant groups continue to fire into Israel right now, Yemen
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  and the who this are causing a lot of strife as well. It's just
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  the whole world over there, just it's like on fire. Well, and
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  that speaks to what a lot of world leaders in the international community had been
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  concerned about, was the whole notion of this spilling over into a regional conflict
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  in the broader Middle East. And of course we've got those fair those touch
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  points that you've mentioned with Hesbilah, with the situation uh in the Red Sea
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  and the ships and of course everything that's happening in Gaza. And if we
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  bring it back to Gaza for a moment, we were getting signals that the
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  military, the Israeli military was withdrawing from one particular part of Gaza, and
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  that is Kanyunis, a city in the south, and it was confirmed that
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  they have indeed largely pulled out of that city. Residents were returning there today
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  to look to look through, you know, the remains essentially of neighborhoods that
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  were that were destroyed by the fighting. But the concern next and what everyone's
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  watching for next is this much talked about planned by Israel to go after what
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  it considers to be the last Hamas stronghold, and that is Rasa, that's
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  a city of one point four million in the south of Gaza. The US
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  has strongly warned Israel against a ground campaign in raw because of course of the
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  dire humanitarian situation as it is right now, the you know, the hospitals
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  that aren't that aren't functioning, the lack of especially in northern Gaza, the
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  overall humanitarian situation right across Gaza, you know, concerns that it could be
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  exacerbated by another offensive into Rafa. So it's understood that there is some kind
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  of a timeline by Israel to go into Rafa with its forces. But just
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  this afternoon John the White House saying it has no information yet on a timeline.
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  So that's something we're watching for as well. Will will there be an
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  offensive in Rafa, When does that begin? And in the meantime, of
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  course, what happens with these ceasefire talks. Everyone was supposed to come back
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  to the table within forty eight hours, but then we heard that that that
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  breaking news from Hamas officials that they had rejected the offer. So there's a
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  couple of moving parts here here, John, that are going to be that
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  the next couple of days are going to be very critical in sorting out well
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  as it's right now, sounds like it's that continual holding pattern that everyone has
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  been in trying to get to that ceasefire negotiation to be completed. Tony,
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  thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Okay,
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  thanks, John, have a good day.