Negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will resume on Thursday in Doha, Qatar. The US and mediating partners Egypt and Qatar will be joined by Israeli representatives, but Hamas will not attend the talks, a member of the negotiating team confirmed on Wednesday.
Hamas will resume talks if it receives a “clear commitment” from Israel on its latest offer, a member of the group’s politburo said. The official familiar with the talks said he told the mediators he was ready to meet with them after Thursday’s meeting if there were any changes or Israel gave a serious response.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Qatari diplomats “assured us that they would work to ensure that Hamas is represented at the talks.”
Biden’s plan failed to go through
At the latest talks in Rome last month, Tel Aviv officials pushed for additions to the scheme announced by President Joe Biden on May 31, including the military retaining indefinite control of the Gaza-Egypt border, according to officials familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity. US officials said Hamas seemed to have complied with the terms of the proposal announced by Biden. But a key member of his negotiating team was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last month.
The proposal called for a six-week ceasefire and partial hostage releases in the first phase, to be accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from population centres and the free return to northern Gaza of civilians who fled south to escape Israeli bombardment. Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the delay in reaching an agreement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday discussed the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is expected to attend the talks, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the State Department said. The United States is expected to be represented on Thursday by CIA Director William J. Burns. The White House’s Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, is also expected in the region.
Trump and Netanyahu discuss Gaza ceasefire
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
Trump’s call was aimed at encouraging Netanyahu to agree to the deal, but stressed that he did not know whether the former president had actually told Netanyahu exactly that. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu visited the US late last month and met with President Joe Biden, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former Republican President Trump.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli calculations.
Israel’s subsequent attack on the Hamas-run enclave killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide charges at the World Court, which Israel denies.
