ISRAEL is sending a negotiating team to Qatar for talks on a Gaza ceasefire proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed.
In a statement late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said the team would travel on Sunday after the Israeli leader instructed negotiators “to accept the invitation for close talks”.
But the statement said that “the changes Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal were delivered to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel”. It did not elaborate on what changes were being requested.
Hamas said on Friday that it had provided a “positive” response to a United States-brokered proposal that would involve a 60-day truce in Gaza, renewing hopes of a possible end to Israel’s deadly assault on the Palestinian enclave.
More than 57,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since the October 2023 start of the war, which has decimated the Strip and spurred a dire humanitarian crisis.
But for months, experts have accused Netanyahu – who faces growing domestic pressure to secure the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza – of blocking attempts to reach a deal that would end Israel’s offensive.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut explained that the captives’ families have accused the Israeli prime minister of “prioritising politics” over the lives of their loved ones.
“His current right-wing allies – the reason why Netanyahu is in power – don’t want a deal,” she said, adding that United States President Donald Trump has also been pushing for an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Trump will host Netanyahu for talks at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key member of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, called on the Israeli prime minister to “abandon the path of surrender”.
In a post on X, Ben-Gvir wrote that any ceasefire deal that would include Israel’s withdrawal from “conquered territories”, the release of Palestinian prisoners, or the “revitalisation of Hamas with humanitarian aid” would constitute a “reward for terrorism”.
“The only way to achieve victory and securely return our hostages is through the complete conquest of the Strip, a total cessation of ‘humanitarian’ aid, and the encouragement to emigration,” he said.
“I call on the prime minister to abandon the path of surrender and return to the path of victory.”