Israel and Hamas are in broad agreement on the possibility of exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners during a month-long ceasefire. However, the negotiations are being held up due to differences over the terms of a permanent ceasefire. Mediation efforts by Qatar, Washington, and Egypt have focused on a phased approach to releasing hostages and prisoners, starting with civilians and ending with soldiers.
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East to focus on talks over a hole in Germany's 2024 budget and said he was "very optimistic" a solution would be found. The economy minister was due to fly to Dubai on Monday evening to attend COP28 and then to Oman, Israel and Saudi Arabia but was asked by the chancellor to postpone the trip, a spokesperson said. The coalition government is in intensive talks over how to tackle a 17-billion
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East to focus on talks over a hole in Germany's 2024 budget and said he was "very optimistic" a solution would be found. The economy minister was due to fly to Dubai on Monday evening to attend COP28 and then to Oman, Israel and Saudi Arabia but was asked by the chancellor to postpone the trip, a spokesperson said. The coalition government is in intensive talks over how to tackle a 17-billion
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East to focus on talks over a hole in Germany's 2024 budget and said he was "very optimistic" a solution would be found. The economy minister was due to fly to Dubai on Monday evening to attend COP28 and then to Oman, Israel and Saudi Arabia but was asked by the chancellor to postpone the trip, a spokesperson said. The coalition government is in intensive talks over how to tackle a 17-billion-euro ($18.50 billion) gap blown in the 2024 budget by a constitutional court ruling last month.
Negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas are close and disagreements among parties have been narrowed amid intensive talks, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said on State of the Union Sunday.