AN Israeli delegation has travelled to Qatar after a new Hamas proposal earlier this week generated renewed hope for a truce agreement, as fighting continues to rage across Gaza.
The Israeli negotiators, led by spy chief David Barnea, met mediators in Doha on Friday, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The talks were set to resume next week, the office said, when another negotiating team would be deployed to Qatar.
The office added there were still “gaps between the parties” in their positions.
The latest development came after Hamas on Wednesday said it had presented new “ideas” to Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish mediators on how to reach a ceasefire and captive-exchange deal to halt the nine-month-long conflict.
At least 38,011 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, which began following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.
While details of Hamas’s latest proposal were not immediately clear, a US official said Thursday they contained a substantial shift in the group’s previous position. The official, in a call with reporters, described the update as a “breakthrough”, while cautioning that obstacles remained.
On Friday, Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha said the group’s latest proposals “have been met with a positive response by the mediators”, while adding “the official Israeli position has not yet become clear”, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Both Israel and Hamas have come under increased pressure to reach a deal, but talks surrounding a United Nations-backed plan outlined by US President Joe Biden in May have stalled in recent weeks.
A major sticking point for Hamas has been whether Israel would resume fighting after the dozens of Israeli captives still held by the group were released. Meanwhile, despite repeated US claims that Israel supported the plan, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war would not end until Hamas is “eradicated”.
In a call with Biden on Thursday, Netanyahu again said the war would only end with Israel “achieving all its objectives”.
