Israel - Hamas conflict: A French diplomat was killed, what are the conditions for negotiating the release of the hostages?

The Israel-Hamas situation continues to be complicated, with casualties rising after clashes between soldiers of the Jewish State and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

(12.17) Khói bốc lên từ khu vực phía Bắc dải Gaza, gần biên giới với Israel sau đợt tấn công của Lực lượng phòng vệ Israel (IDF). (Nguồn: AFP)

Casualties from the Israel-Hamas conflict and related clashes continue to rise - Photo: Smoke rises from the northern Gaza Strip, near the border with Israel after an attack by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). (Source: AFP)

On the morning of December 17, the French Foreign Ministry said that a French diplomat had died after being wounded in an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attack on the Gaza Strip. Paris is now asking the Israeli government to clarify the December 13 IDF airstrike on a building in Rafah that killed 10 civilians, including an official of the ministry.

A day earlier, the Hamas movement said it would not negotiate a hostage exchange until Israel ended its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas reiterates its position that there will be no negotiations on prisoner exchanges until the campaign against our people ends,” the statement said.

On the other side, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to suggest that the country was launching new negotiations to rescue hostages held by Hamas, after the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency met with the prime minister of Qatar - the intermediary country.

He said Israel's attack on Gaza helped secure the release of a group of hostages last November.

In the West Bank, the situation continues to be complicated. The state news agency WAFA (Palestine) reported that four Arabs were killed when Israel carried out airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarem in the West Bank on the night of December 16 and the morning of December 17.

Specifically, a 16-year-old boy was killed after IDF soldiers opened fire at the Deir Ammar refugee camp northwest of Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank. In the Beit Ummar area, on the outskirts of Hebron, another young man was killed after clashes with the IDF. In Jenin, a man injured in an Israeli drone strike earlier this week died.

For its part, Channel 12 (Israel) said the IDF raided after being attacked with explosives and affirmed that those killed were wanted by the country.

Since the beginning of the week, the IDF has been conducting a three-day offensive against Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank in an attempt to capture individuals wanted by the Jewish state. Many Palestinians have reacted to the operation, leading to several clashes that have left several people dead.

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