Doha/Cairo: A new era Gaza Ceasefire talks were underway in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday afternoon, an official with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters, with the Israeli spy chief joined by his US and Egyptian counterparts and QueuePrime Minister Modi held a closed-door meeting.
The talks were held in an effort to end 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian territory and return 115 Israeli and foreign hostages as Iran prepares to retaliate against Israel over the killing of a Palestinian leader. Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July.
With US warships, submarines and warplanes being sent to the region to defend Israel and deter potential attackers, Washington is hoping to give Israel a stronger military force. cease fire A settlement in Gaza could avert the threat of a wider regional war.
Hamas officials, who have accused Israel of obstructing the talks, did not attend Thursday’s talks. However, an official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that mediators planned to consult Hamas’ Doha-based negotiating team after the meeting.
The Israeli delegation included intelligence chief David Barnea, domestic security service head Ronen Bar and the military’s hostage chief Nitzan Alon, defense officials said on Wednesday.
CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk represented Washington at the talks hosted by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamil was also in Doha.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the failure to reach an agreement, but neither side had ruled out a deal ahead of Thursday’s meeting.
A source in the Israeli negotiating team said on Wednesday that the Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu Significant relaxations have been given on certain important disputes.
The gaps include the presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, the order of the release of hostages, and restrictions on access to northern Gaza.
Ahead of Thursday’s talks, Hamas, which rejects any US or Israeli intervention in shaping the “next day” of the war in Gaza, told mediators the group would continue to engage in talks if Israel made a “serious” proposal that was in line with Hamas’ previous proposals.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Thursday the group remained committed to the negotiation process and urged mediators to ensure Israel’s commitment to a proposal agreed by Hamas in early July, which he said would end the war and entail a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Fighting continued in Gaza even as negotiators arrived in Qatar, with Israeli troops attacking targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
After months of war that has devastated Gaza, killed more than 40,000 Palestinians according to Gaza health officials, and forced many of its population of about 2.3 million from their homes, there was a strong desire to end the fighting.
“Enough is enough, we want to go back to our homes in Gaza City, every hour a family is being killed or a house is being bombed,” said Ayaa, 30, who is taking refuge with her family in Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip, where millions of people have taken refuge to escape the fighting.
“This time we have hope. It will either happen this time or never, I’m afraid,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
In Tel Aviv, families of some hostages protested outside the headquarters of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“Tell the negotiating team — if an agreement is not signed at this summit today or in the coming days, do not return to Israel. You have no reason to return to Israel without an agreement,” said Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod Cohen is a hostage in Gaza.
The men were taken hostage during a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which militants killed nearly 1,200 people, triggering a war in the Palestinian territory.
Critical response
Late Wednesday, Hamas reaffirmed its pending demands in a statement issued jointly with some smaller factions for the factions to sign a ceasefire agreement.
The group said the talks should “examine mechanisms to implement what was agreed in the framework agreement presented by the mediators, which includes a comprehensive ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces, breaking of the siege, opening of crossings and reconstruction of Gaza, as well as a serious settlement on the status of hostages/prisoners.”
Iran’s threat to retaliate over Haniya’s killing has further dented the talks. Three senior Iranian officials have said that only a ceasefire agreement in Gaza could prevent Iran from directly retaliating against Israel.
But the potential intensification of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon is also clouding the outlook.
After a missile attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 young men on July 27, Israel killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, prompting the movement to vow retaliation.
There has been regular exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah for several months, but the exchanges have been kept within tacitly understood red lines that risk being erased as the conflict escalates.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in Haniya’s killing. The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli security.
(Reporting and writing: Andrew Mills in Doha; Reporting by: Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing: Angus MacSwan)
The talks were held in an effort to end 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian territory and return 115 Israeli and foreign hostages as Iran prepares to retaliate against Israel over the killing of a Palestinian leader. Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July.
With US warships, submarines and warplanes being sent to the region to defend Israel and deter potential attackers, Washington is hoping to give Israel a stronger military force. cease fire A settlement in Gaza could avert the threat of a wider regional war.
Hamas officials, who have accused Israel of obstructing the talks, did not attend Thursday’s talks. However, an official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that mediators planned to consult Hamas’ Doha-based negotiating team after the meeting.
The Israeli delegation included intelligence chief David Barnea, domestic security service head Ronen Bar and the military’s hostage chief Nitzan Alon, defense officials said on Wednesday.
CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk represented Washington at the talks hosted by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamil was also in Doha.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the failure to reach an agreement, but neither side had ruled out a deal ahead of Thursday’s meeting.
A source in the Israeli negotiating team said on Wednesday that the Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu Significant relaxations have been given on certain important disputes.
The gaps include the presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, the order of the release of hostages, and restrictions on access to northern Gaza.
Ahead of Thursday’s talks, Hamas, which rejects any US or Israeli intervention in shaping the “next day” of the war in Gaza, told mediators the group would continue to engage in talks if Israel made a “serious” proposal that was in line with Hamas’ previous proposals.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Thursday the group remained committed to the negotiation process and urged mediators to ensure Israel’s commitment to a proposal agreed by Hamas in early July, which he said would end the war and entail a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Fighting continued in Gaza even as negotiators arrived in Qatar, with Israeli troops attacking targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
After months of war that has devastated Gaza, killed more than 40,000 Palestinians according to Gaza health officials, and forced many of its population of about 2.3 million from their homes, there was a strong desire to end the fighting.
“Enough is enough, we want to go back to our homes in Gaza City, every hour a family is being killed or a house is being bombed,” said Ayaa, 30, who is taking refuge with her family in Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip, where millions of people have taken refuge to escape the fighting.
“This time we have hope. It will either happen this time or never, I’m afraid,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
In Tel Aviv, families of some hostages protested outside the headquarters of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“Tell the negotiating team — if an agreement is not signed at this summit today or in the coming days, do not return to Israel. You have no reason to return to Israel without an agreement,” said Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod Cohen is a hostage in Gaza.
The men were taken hostage during a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which militants killed nearly 1,200 people, triggering a war in the Palestinian territory.
Critical response
Late Wednesday, Hamas reaffirmed its pending demands in a statement issued jointly with some smaller factions for the factions to sign a ceasefire agreement.
The group said the talks should “examine mechanisms to implement what was agreed in the framework agreement presented by the mediators, which includes a comprehensive ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces, breaking of the siege, opening of crossings and reconstruction of Gaza, as well as a serious settlement on the status of hostages/prisoners.”
Iran’s threat to retaliate over Haniya’s killing has further dented the talks. Three senior Iranian officials have said that only a ceasefire agreement in Gaza could prevent Iran from directly retaliating against Israel.
But the potential intensification of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon is also clouding the outlook.
After a missile attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 young men on July 27, Israel killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, prompting the movement to vow retaliation.
There has been regular exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah for several months, but the exchanges have been kept within tacitly understood red lines that risk being erased as the conflict escalates.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in Haniya’s killing. The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli security.
(Reporting and writing: Andrew Mills in Doha; Reporting by: Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing: Angus MacSwan)
