NEW YORK, August 14. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is finally ready to agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, noted American journalist Seymour Hersh said in an article published on the Substack platform.

"Netanyahu, reassured by the US armada and Iran’s reluctance so far to respond to the [Ismail] Haniyeh assassination, is said finally to be ready to agree to a ceasefire that, in various forms, has been on the table for months," the journalist said. According to him, the key point in discussing the agreement is "the release by Hamas of all the Israeli hostages" in exchange for an indefinite ceasefire.

Hersh opined that Israel is not ready to discuss the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

On August 9, the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the US issued a joint statement calling on Israel and Hamas to resume ceas-fire talks in the Gaza Strip on August 15 in Doha or Cairo. The mediators also signaled their willingness to present a final draft agreement based on the principles outlined by Biden and supported by UN Security Council Resolution 2735. One hour after the release of the mediators' statement, the Israeli authorities agreed to send a delegation to the talks on August 15. On August 11, Hamas called on the mediators to present them with a concrete plan for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and to oblige Israel to implement it instead of returning to the negotiating table.

On August 12, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, said that Hamas' refusal to participate in the next round of Gaza talks "shows the whole world who is obstructing the early return of hostages and attempts at a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip." He also pointed out that "Israel has already confirmed its participation in the next round of talks." However, according to him, the venue for the consultations "has not yet been finalized."

A temporary humanitarian ceasefire, brokered by Egypt and Qatar, was reached in late November 2023 and lasted for a week. During that time, more than 100 hostages were released, according to Israel. On December 1 of that year, the ceasefire was violated and hostilities resumed, continuing to this day. According to the latest information from the Israeli side, there are 115 hostages in Gaza.