In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council Foreign Relations, Mohammad Khajui said: “The new round of diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire in Gaza happened after the assassination of Fawad Shekar, the senior commander of the Hezbollah, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement in Tehran. These assassinations had caused the concern that with the reciprocal response from Hezbollah and Iran, the process of conflicts would go out of control and bring the whole region into a massive conflict.

He added: “This issue created an incentive for the regional and international parties, especially the three countries of the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, to reactivate and try to revive the new diplomatic process by resuming negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”

According to Khajui, in any case, developments in Gaza are the main cause of further unrest in the region. There is a view that if the Gaza crisis ends, it will naturally affect the conflict between Hezbollah and Iran with the Israeli regime and other components of the Resistance Axis, and it will reduce these tensions to some extent.

Pointing out that based on these new diplomatic efforts and initiatives, the first round of negotiations was held in Doha, he added: “One week after that, these negotiations continued in Cairo. The basis of these negotiations is the plan proposed by the American president, who presented it in May.

Khajui emphasized: “This plan had different parts, the most important of which is the issue of a ceasefire between the two sides, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the issue of the return of refugees to their homes, the exchange of captives and prisoners between the two sides, and the issue of the reconstruction of Gaza.”

The researcher on Middle East issues added, “These negotiations did not lead to a clear result, and it seems that the talks are somehow tied up.”

In response to the issues between the two sides that have prevented the conclusion of this agreement, Khajui explained: “The most important issue that caused the dispute is that the Israeli regime wants somehow to keep its forces in Gaza after the ceasefire; In other words, the Israeli regime does not want to accept a ceasefire, after which it will lose the possibility of influence and mobility in Gaza.

He added: “Actually, the cabinet of the Israeli regime is looking for an agreement based on which it will be able to maintain its military and security superiority in this region at any moment due to the presence of its forces in parts of Gaza.”

According to this expert, on this basis, the Israeli regime insists on maintaining its forces in two very important axes in Gaza; The first axis is the axis or corridor known as Philadelphia or Saladin, which is parallel to the border between Gaza and Egypt. The Israeli regime claims that this region, the border region between Gaza and Egypt, has always been a place through which Hamas has been able to bring weapons into Gaza and maintain its threats against this regime.

He emphasized: “The next axis is the Netzarim axis; This axis is located almost in the middle of Gaza and divides Gaza into two parts, north and south. The importance of this axis and maintaining the forces of the Israeli regime in it is to be able to control between the southern and northern parts of Gaza and monitor the process of the return of refugees to the northern areas according to the checkpoints it places there.»

According to Khajui, the main goal of the Israeli regime is to prevent Hamas from reviving its presence in various sectors or from being able to organize itself.

He continued: “Naturally, this issue and the insistence on maintaining the Zionist forces in these two axes is an issue that Hamas strongly opposes Because it considers it an obstacle for the ceasefire to take a long-term form, while it is not a guarantee that the Israeli regime will not take action against Gaza again.

Khajui continued: “The initiatives that the mediating parties such as the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have presented in the negotiations have not yet come to fruition; That is, initiatives that tried to take a middle position and lead to the solution of the issue.

This expert believes that currently, it cannot be said the negotiations have reached a dead end. Although the negotiations in Cairo were unsuccessful, according to the latest news, technical teams are still present in Cairo. It seems that after a new round of political consultations at high levels between the officials of the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, with the officials of the Israeli regime and other countries in the region, a new round of negotiations will resume.”

He added: “Now the issue is that the war in Gaza has reached a point where it is very difficult to continue, and due to a series of events that happened on the sidelines of this war, such as the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and some other cases, there is the concern that the prolongation of this war and its erosion will make the situation go out of control.”

The researcher on Middle East issues explained: “It seems that these concerns can push the negotiation process towards success.”

Khajui also said about Iran’s stance on the ceasefire negotiations: “Iran is also a supporter of this process; Iran has supported the ceasefire since the beginning of the war in Gaza and considers the truce to be in line with the interests of the Resistance Axis and Hamas.”

He emphasized that the need for the ceasefire to be stable is to solve a series of conflicting issues. In this situation, it can be assumed that a new round of negotiations will begin again in the not too distant future, and there are many incentives for these negotiations to come to a conclusion.

Khajui concluded: “Although it is tough to advance this process, it will continue at a low speed.”